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Search CLEAR 34° CLEAR, Santa Rosa, CA | Home Delivery | Newspaper Ads | Mobile | Place an Ad * Home * News * Business * Sports * Entertainment * Living * Opinion * Obituaries * Real Estate * Jobs * Cars * Classifieds * Local * Arrest Logs * State * Nation/World * Education * Politics * Data Center * Weather * Archives * Photos * Video * Blogs News-Home * * * * Enlarge Text * Email * Print * Comments * Share + You must fill in all fields + _______________ + _______________ + _______________ + [BUTTON] * WITH PHOTO * NO PHOTO * FACEBOOK * * YAHOO * NEWSVINE * DEL.ICIO.US 1,000 sheriff's employees' data at risk Computers stolen from department vehicles Feb. 28 included personal information By LAURA NORTON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Published: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 3:46 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 3:46 a.m. The personal information on Sonoma County Sheriff's Department employees is at risk from a recent security breach, Sheriff Bill Cogbill warned employees Monday. Related Links: * Thieves grab computers from police cars In a memo to the department's more than 1,000 employees, Cogbill warned that their "personal information could be compromised." There is no evidence that the information, which authorities said included names and home addresses, had been viewed or used by anyone outside the Sheriff's Department, Cogbill said. One Sheriff's Department employee said Social Security numbers also were in the database, but that could not be independently confirmed on Monday. The information was potentially exposed when thieves broke into Santa Rosa police cars at the city's Municipal Services Center on Stony Point Road the night of Feb. 22 or morning of Feb. 23, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Lisa Banayat said. There was no immediate explanation why sheriff's authorities waited two weeks to disclose the breach. Four laptop computers with access to the county data system were stolen. "The information is password protected and linked to the county system only when it is in the car," Banayat said. "It would be a nearly impossible hack job to get into it." The theft was one of four burglaries of government agencies that occurred that night and authorities believe they are related. Computers also were stolen from the Sonoma County Water Agency and PG&E office on Stony Point Road. Banayat said Santa Rosa property crimes detectives are following leads and trying to track down the computers and suspects. Sheriff's Capt. Matt McCaffrey said the Sheriff's Department is assisting in the investigation and "taking steps to institute stricter security measures so that it doesn't happen again." "Our investigations bureau has been assigned the case to identify potential suspects and recover the data," Cogbill wrote in his note to employees. A credit monitoring service will be available to all current and former employees, Cogbill said. You can reach Staff Writer Laura Norton at 521-5220 or laura.norton@pressdemocrat.com. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged. * * * * Enlarge Text * Email * Print * Comments * Share + You must fill in all fields + _______________ + _______________ + _______________ + [BUTTON] * WITH PHOTO * NO PHOTO * FACEBOOK * * YAHOO * NEWSVINE * DEL.ICIO.US Comments Only moderator-approved comments are shown on this page. To see all comments, please visit the forum. We at PressDemocrat.com created these forums as a place where our community can exchange ideas on news issues and express their thoughts. Please be courteous and respectful. Avoid expletives, false statements, veiled or overt threats and personal attacks. Stay on topic. (View full Terms of Service.) Post a comment | View all comments on this topic. 1. SRPresDemoRdr says... March 10, 2009 10:25:17 am RE: Link When asked if the current burglaries are related to the theft of toilet seats from the Sheriff's office, Sheriff Cogbill declined to offer his opinion, citing "We have nothing to go on...." [topic_alert.gif] Report this post Post a comment | View all comments Next Article in News-Home * back * (10 of 20) * next * Cold not expected to create frost threat for grapes This week's forecast for cold temperatures and frost is not expected to trouble most vineyard managers, but growers throughout the region are busy making sure their frost protection systems are ready for the weeks ahead. 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