The state of Colorado has notified nearly 19,000 current and former employees that a device containing their names, Social Security numbers and possibly addresses is missing.
And while the state has said “there is no indication that this information has been misused or stolen,” the letter sent to employees about the incident created additional concerns.
Although it contained the state seal, there was no letterhead and no phone number to call. And when a link to the attorney general’s office failed to open, some recipients wondered if it was a scam or a hoax.
The letter was indeed real. The link wouldn’t open because it was underlined in the letter, which overrode an underscore in the web address, said Tauna Lockhart, spokeswoman for the Governor’s Office of Information Technology.
“We apologize for the confusion,” she said.
The state employee who lost the USB drive — also known as a flash drive or thumb drive — did so while “transporting it between work locations” and has been disciplined for not following protocol, Lockhart said. She said she could not provide additional details, including which department employed that worker.
The employee lost the drive in late November. IT officials initiated a search, and when the device could not be found, they began the processing of identifying what information it contained in order to know which current and former employees needed to be notified. Once that happened, the letters went out last week, Lockhart said.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
