Hotel chain Marriott announced last week that they lost backup tapes containing

personal information on more than 206,000 customers. The missing tapes hold credit

card data, Social Security numbers, and, in some cases, bank information on customers

of Marriott’s time-share division, Marriott Vacation Club International.

Marriott’s data debacle underscores the danger of internal

threats. The 2005 CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey reported that “Inside

jobs occur as often as external attacks.” Whether the missing tapes were

simply misplaced or stolen for financial gain, Marriott’s IT department should

seriously reevaluate and adjust their data security measures.