A somewhat curious, and rather terse, laptop theft is this week’s Rip. Thanks to kirniki over at DataLossDB for the tip, National Underwriter reports that Thrivent Financial experienced a break-in at an office in Pennsylvania. A laptop was stolen, which contained personal information, including names, addresses, Social Security Numbers and health information.

But what is curious is that the laptop “had safeguards to protect sensitive information, including strong password protection and encryption.” Even still, the company is offering free credit monitoring.

No report of the number of victims has been given.

The response to the “breach” makes one wonder if there’s more to the story. Was the encryption not properly applied (very common)? Did the employee tape a handwritten plain-text passphrase note onto the palm rest (it happens–that’s why MyLaptopGPS offers Remote Decryption Kill)? Tough to say, and it’s all speculation. Something just seems odd about the reports and the response.

We will have to see if it shows up on the HHS Hall of Shame or not.