"There are going to be thousands of victims." Anthony Muzichenko, the owner of L.A. Management, who lost 25 computers.CA - In a bold, systematic hit on a landmark Ventura Boulevard office building, burglars stole scores of computers from at least 60 of the 80 businesses there, taking machines containing sensitive legal documents, credit card numbers and the tax information of thousands of people, police said Saturday.
The overnight theft at the Chateau Office Building in Woodland Hills left accountants, a talent agent, property management companies, attorneys and other businesses in the three-story structure scrambling to assess their losses as police scoured the premises... Several concluded that the thieves' target must have been the information contained on their hard drives, not property.
In one office, a pile of hard drives had been stacked in a corner, ready to be hauled out... thieves left a backup drive, positioned atop the server, leading him to believe that the theft was aimed at "the information, definitely. The computers by themselves are not worth much."
One businessman said the credit card numbers of 7,000 clients were stolen. Accountant Richard Levy said his stolen computer held the tax documents of 800 clients. Attorney Marshall Bitkower said only three computers were taken from his office, but "they had all kinds of stuff. Everything: people's names, credit cards, clients, e-mails back and forth -- who knows what."
Muzichenko, a talent manager, said that when he heard the news he was "very hysterical. I was crying. I have to restore my business." (more)
Moral: Backup and Encrypt.
