Ooops

Well, there is a big controversy at NASA.  A man had personel data on a laptop, left laptop in locked car and guess what, it was stolen.  Personal info on about 10,000.  An oh sh*t moment. 

When reading this, I couldn't help but think of when I worked as a Customer Service Rep for DHL (the overnight delivery service).   I get this call, from what can best be described as an Asshole (with capital A).   He had  sent a laptop across country and now he thought it was lost.  He starts out with "You probably don't know who X Company is."  One don't insult your CSR you never know who is on the other line of the phone.  I answered with "Yes, I believe X Company is an AeroSpace contractor with the government."  (Dumb female CSR 1) has a degree in Political Science, and 2) is a space geek).  You could hear it running down both legs as he realized that I knew whatever was on the laptop probably shouldn't have been shipped via commercial carrier.  His whole attitude changed, it was wonderful.  Yes, I am a low creature, I enjoyed it, every second of it.  And Yes, I found his laptop for him, it had been delivered to where it was supposed to be.  Gave him the name of the person who signed for it and he was releaved and happy, well except for his soiled pants.

The morale of this story:  make sure your data is encrypted, don't leave your laptop laying around (even if you locked the car, any thief can pop that lock in a second), and don't send it commercial.