(MSPAlliance) - Monday, May 1, 2006 - Personal information for about 17,000 current and former employees of Long Island Railroad was lost recently, according to the Associated Press. Iron Mountain, Inc. of Boston, a record-storage company, confirmed the loss. One of the company's drivers discovered the loss of two containers of backup data tapes on April 6 while parked outside a Veterans Affairs hospital in the Bronx.
The loss also reportedly involved data belonging to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, though Iron Mountain, Inc. will neither confirm nor deny the report. Iron Mountain's investigators believe that the loss resulted from an accident, not theft, and the NYPD said it is investigating the loss as a suspected burglary.
Employees of Long Island Railroad were notified of the loss Monday. Iron Mountain said that it was highly unlikely that information on the data tapes could be accessed, saying to do so would require "highly specialized expertise, specific software and sophisticated technology equipment."
