Frank Abagnale to Speak at 2010 NAID Annual Conference
Frank Abagnale, the inspiration for the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can and perhaps the best known ID thief in the world, will give the keynote address at the 2010 NAID (National Association for Information Destruction) Annual Conference in Las Vegas.
Abagnale’s infamous accomplishments include successfully impersonating an airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer and a prison inspector—all before the age of 21. He also forged more than $2.5 million in checks and escaped police custody twice.
After serving five years in prison, he was released to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to assist in apprehending identity thieves and other con artists. Today, Abagnale is a speaker on the topic of identity fraud.
"Throughout the years, we have consistently strived to make each conference better than the last," says NAID Executive Director Bob Johnson.
He adds, "While the addition of Frank Abagnale to the event is extremely exciting, it’s also important to note that the trade expo is on track to be the largest in the event’s history and it is the home of the one-and-only mobile destruction equipment expo in the world. The sessions are being streamlined and intensified to focus on the topics that help members best grow their businesses."
The 2010 NAID Annual Conference will be March 3-5 at the Red Rock Resort and Spa.
Advanced registration for the event opened Nov. 1. Vendors to the secure information destruction industry can purchase exhibit space by contacting advertising@naidonline.org. Attendees can reserve their rooms at the Red Rock by contacting (702) 797-7777.
ChoicePoint Settles FTC Charges
The data brokerage firm ChoicePoint Inc., Alpharetta, Ga., has agreed to strengthened data security requirements to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that the company failed to implement a comprehensive information security program protecting consumers’ sensitive data, as required by a previous court order. The failure left the door open to a data breach in 2008 that compromised the personal information of 13,750 people and put them at risk of ID theft.
ChoicePoint has agreed to a modified court order that expands its data security assessment and reporting duties and requires the company to pay $275,000.
In April 2008, ChoicePoint turned off a key electronic security tool used to monitor access to one of its databases and failed to detect the action for four months, according to the FTC. During that time, an unknown person conducted unauthorized searches of a ChoicePoint database containing sensitive consumer data.
The FTC alleges that if the security software tool had been working, ChoicePoint likely would have detected the intrusions much earlier and minimized the extent of the breach. The FTC also alleges that ChoicePoint’s conduct violated a 2006 court order mandating the company to institute a comprehensive data security program reasonably designed to protect consumers’ sensitive personal data.
Under the agreed-upon modified court order, ChoicePoint is required to report to the FTC—every two months for two years—detailed information about how it is protecting the breached database and certain other databases and records containing personal information.
The FTC’s prior action against ChoicePoint involved a data breach in 2005, which resulted in at least 800 cases of identity theft. The settlement and resulting 2006 court order in that case required the company to pay $10 million in civil penalties and $5 million in consumer redress.
The new court order extends record-keeping and monitoring requirements of the 2006 order and gives the FTC the right to request two additional biennial assessments of ChoicePoint’s overall data security program.
Cornerstone Records Management Acquires Information Management Storage
Cornerstone Records Management LLC, based in Columbia, Md., has completed its acquisition of the assets of California-based records storage firm Information Management Storage Inc. (IMS).
"We are very excited about having IMS become part of Cornerstone," says Steven Sisney, president and CEO of Cornerstone. "Based in Simi Valley, IMS supports our strategy to expand our presence in Southern California. They will become part of Cornerstone’s Western Division, which is headquartered in Van Nuys, Calif."
In May 2009 Cornerstone acquired Nova Records Management, which gave Cornerstone a significant presence in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets.
Sisney continues, "By accelerating the pace and amount of investment we are making in Cornerstone, we will be able to further enhance the services and benefits available to our customers, expand career opportunities for our employees and provide an attractive return to our investors."
In addition to making selective, complementary acquisitions, Cornerstone says it is focused on driving organic growth. The company opened two new facilities in the California market in the second half of 2008 and a records storage center and a separate media vault in the Denver area this summer. The company also opened a new records storage facility in Swedesboro, N.J., in September.
Cornerstone Records Management entered the market in 2008 with the acquisitions of LA Records Management Inc. and Microshred Inc.
Serving a broad customer base, Cornerstone provides a range of services, including the storage and management of hard copy records, plant-based and mobile document destruction, electronic media vaulting and digital imaging. Cornerstone does business as LA Records Management in the Southern California area, as Cornerstone Records Management in the Denver market and as Nova Records Management in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets.
Sterling Partners, with offices in Baltimore and Chicago, is the lead investor in Cornerstone Records Management. Sterling is a growth-oriented, private-equity firm with more than $4 billion in assets under management.
DIT Facility Meets NARA Regulations
Scranton, Pa.-based Diversified Information Technologies (DIT), a provider of document and information life cycle solutions, has announced that its Gordonsville, Va., facility complies with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Code of Federal Regulations 36 CFR part 1228, subpart K.
This is the third DIT records management center that has been redesigned and upgraded to comply with NARA 36 CFR part 1228, subpart K, which outlines specific requirements for all document centers storing federal records, including NARA-operated Federal Records Centers, agency-operated storage centers and commercial records centers.
Key requirements relate to facility perimeter, entry and interior security; fire safety and suppression; proven fire-safe construction materials; and environmental controls.
"We continue to submit our document management and records centers for 36 CFR part 1228, subpart K, approval to demonstrate our commitment to securing compliance and protecting the records of both our federal government and commercial clients," says Scott Byers, president and CEO of DIT. "We engage the NARA approval process proactively because it is the right way to secure our clients’ records."
Leo Malsky, vice president of operations for DIT, says the company is in the process of obtaining NARA approvals for two additional sites. "This will bring our total to five NARA approved records centers nationally," he adds.
According to DIT, the company’s Moosic, Pa., location claims the distinction of being the first commercial vendor listed on the Web site for the NARA Central Registry of Approved Facilities for the Storage of Federal Records in 2002. Since then, DIT says it has continued to make significant investments in its storage centers.
Diversified Information Technologies has 17 locations in the United States as well as three international locations.
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