Newswise carries a press release from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary stating that more than 3,526 patients were affected by a data breach on February 19, 2010. Dr. Robert Levine, a neurologist with a focus on tinnitus (ringing in the ears), was traveling in South Korea when his laptop was stolen.

On that laptop was the personal and clinical data of approximately 3,526 patients treated by Dr. Levine, plus a small selection of other patients from other research. The data was not encrypted, of course, else we’d likely not even be discussing the incident, but in this case it’s interesting to note that the laptop was trackable, apparently via a MyLaptopGPS competitor. The laptop was indeed tracked and some intelligence data was gained. Then, later, the data was remotely deleted from the drive.

This is, of course, fantastic news, and highly worth applauding.

The press release notes, however, that it is not clear if the data was accessed before it was deleted, so the possibility of a breach does remain. This highlights the need for a powerful additional, integrated layer of security: on-disk strong encryption for data at rest, such as that included with MyLaptopGPS.

Even still, it’s great to hear of a case with some good security measures in play. Thanks to kirniki for the tip.