DMV theft yields personal data after all, officials lament

David Kihara

Monday, March 14, 2005 | 9:44 a.m.

About 9,000 Las Vegas residents had detailed personal information stolen during the burglary of a Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles last week, officials said Friday.

The officials reversed previous statements that the theft of a computer at the DMV at 4110 Donovan Way near Craig Road and Interstate 15 could not yield any personal information to burglars because it was encrypted.

The officials conceded that there were files stolen from the computers that will provide the burglars with complete driver's license information as well as Social Security numbers and dates of birth for 8,738 individuals who had been issued a driver's license at the DMV from Nov. 25, 2004, to March 4, 2005.

"The state is extremely sorry this happened," said Ginny Lewis, director of the DMV.

She said that the DMV discovered that the burglars could access the personal information by mid-day on Thursday -- four days after the original burglary -- after the agency's computer vendor alerted it to the problem.

The DMV is now taking steps to ensure that no personal information is left on any computers at DMV branches at the end of the day. All computers have been reconfigured and internal procedures have been changed that will likely ensure this doesn't happen again, she said.

Paul Masto, assistant special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office of the U.S. Secret Service, said the agency is pursuing leads. He declined to comment on whether any suspects have been identified, but said investigators had expanded the investigation to Utah, Arizona and California.

Masto advised anyone who had their personal information stolen to close out their current bank accounts and start new ones.

Tim Bedwell, spokesman for the North Las Vegas Police, also said North Las Vegas Police officers are also following up on leads but has not yet made any arrests.

"It is possible that we will make an arrest before any false IDs are made," he said.

So far, authorities have no information on any identity thefts made from personal information taken from the DMV computer.

The DMV, which knows every individual who was issued a driver's license during the five-month period in question, will print out a new license with a different drivers license number on it and will send it to every individual affected by the burglary.

The DMV will enclose a letter of explanation and will invalidate the previous license.

Anyone with concerns can call the DMV at (702) 486-8637 for more information.

The DMV at Donovan Way was burglarized on March 7 when unidentified burglars drove a car into through a 9-foot by 11-foot glass window and stole a computer, printing equipment and 1,700 blank driver's licenses. The burglars got away in less than 15 minutes.

Lewis said the DMV is increasing security at DMV locations in the state but can't turn the offices into "fortresses."

The offices of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, however, have more security measures in place than those in Las Vegas.

Each California DMV office, for example, is outfitted with internal security cameras, said Steve Haskins, spokesman for the California DMV.

Since 2001, no DMV in California has been burglarized, he said.

"Our security is top notch," he said.

Nevada DMV branches such as the one in North Las Vegas do not have security cameras but officials are currently requesting grant money from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to fund installing them, Lewis said.