How vulnurable are we?

In most cases when a computer gets stolen it is rarely recovered and only the owner is "out of luck". But what if that computer had your information that you (directly or indirectly) entrusted someone else with? More and more reports are coming about computers that have huge numbers of personal data on them being stole, most recently

"A computer containing financial information on thousands of Vanguard University students and their parents was stolen from the school's financial aid office last week, officials said Friday."

This is something that can happen to anyone at any time, and the scariest part of it is that you don't have a way of preventing such a thing. In fact some people might not even find out until it's too late. In the 21st century computing has brought a lot of good into the world, along with a helpful boom to businesses and such. However it also carries a huge risk with it, as a thief can literally walk away with tens of thousands of vital pieces of information which could lead to millions of dollars in damage. It is always important to know who you are sharing your personal information with, but in cases like these all you can do is rely on the university or other second party to keep that information safely guarded.

Full story here.