Ill. insurer, Hortica, alerts public to data loss

Florists’ Mutual Insurance Company (Hortica), an Illinois-based provider of employee benefits and insurance to companies in the horticultural industry, reported that a locked shipping case containing magnetic backup tapes cannot be located.

Hortica believes that the backup tapes contained personal information including names, Social Security numbers, drivers’ license numbers, and/or bank account numbers.

The company said the locked shipping case was being transported by UPS from a secure offsite facility to the company’s Illinois headquarters. On April 5, 2007, after a search via its internal recovery processes, UPS notified Hortica that the shipping case could not be located.

Hortica said while an investigation is continuing and that the company is working with law enforcement agencies to locate the shipping case, the company remains hopeful the shipping case may be found within UPS’s shipping or another storage facility.

“UPS and law enforcement agencies have no evidence to indicate an unauthorized individual has possession of the tapes,” said Robert McClellan, president and chief executive officer, in a company statement. “It is important for customers to note that these tapes cannot be read without specific computer equipment and software.”

McClellan added that Hortica has since altered its backup tape storage procedures so shipment of backup tapes by common carrier is no longer required.

As of April 6, no unusual activity involving customer information had been reported.

For more information, call 1-800-851-7740 or e-mail Hortica at securedata@hortica-insurance.com. Information regarding the loss of the locked shipping case will also be posted on Hortica’s Web site at www.hortica-insurance.com, the company said.