Things just don’t change much. Yet another laptop theft report bears extreme similarity to…all of the other laptop theft reports.

This time, the BBC reports that a laptop containing a trove of Personally Identifying Information (PII) of members of six pension schemes in the UK was stolen from software company NorthgateArinso. The breach victims include members of:

1. Social Housing
2. SSHA
3. Independent Schools
4. Flexible Retirement Plan
5. Growth Plan (Series 1, 2 & 3)
6. Unified Ethical Plan

Here’s an eerily familiar statement:

“The data was protected by a password and was ‘not easily accessible’ said the Pensions Trust, which said it was sorry the laptop had been stolen. However the data, which was not encrypted, included names, addresses, dates of birth, employer, national insurance numbers, salary details and, in the case of those receiving their pensions, their bank details too. “

As we’ve seen recently in Oklahoma, “not easily accessible” is a very relative phrase. The data wasn’t encrypted. Now it’s out there. And, there’s no sign of tracking software in the mix.

Same song, 109,000th verse.