Data of 43,000 patients breached after theft of unencrypted laptop

West Virginia-based Coplin Health Systems is notifying 43,000 patients of a potential data breach after a laptop was stolen from an employee’s car. The laptop was password-protected but not encrypted, and contained sensitive patient information such as names, Social Security numbers, and medical data. Coplin officials have disabled the laptop’s access to the network and are working with law enforcement on the incident. They are also reviewing internal policies and security measures to prevent future breaches. The incident serves as a reminder that encryption should be mandatory for all data.