Missing UTPA mobile drive found; security scare declared over
EDINBURG — A University of Texas-Pan American groundskeeper was credited Friday with finding a portable storage device that had gone missing more than a week earlier, causing an information security scare for 1,500 full-time employees.
James Langabeer, the university’s vice president for business affairs, said in an e-mail sent to faculty and staff Friday morning that Pedro Rodriguez made the discovery but at first did not know what the device was.
An employee took the storage device home to do work the weekend of June 2-3 and discovered it lost June 4. University police were notified June 5, according to a statement UTPA released Thursday. The device contained the names, salaries and Social Security numbers of more than two-thirds of the university’s 2,200 employees.
Langabeer said Thursday that the University of Texas System was quickly notified about what he called an “incident,” stressing that it was not a security breach because no one deliberately misappropriated university information. The employee who lost the storage device will not be disciplined, he said.
Rodriguez, 50, said he was mowing grass in front of the university’s administration building Tuesday when he saw a piece of string that had an unknown object attached to it. He put the item on his mower and left it on there when it was locked up after work Tuesday.
He said it is not unusual for grounds workers to find objects while working throughout campus.
“Some of it is good or broken,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t think anything about it.”
He thought again about the device when he heard from university leaders Thursday that a portable storage device had gone missing and contained important information. He turned the unknown device in to his supervisor about 4 p.m. Thursday and staff determined Friday morning it was what they were looking for.
“I’m feeling better and everybody else here at the university can rest and feel better and enjoy the weekend,” Rodriguez said.
Langabeer said he has now banned employees from taking thumb drives and other Internet technology off campus. And university leaders are considering putting limits on how much work employees can do at home.
“We dodged a bullet, and there won’t be any more bullets,” Langabeer said.
Employees are still encouraged to check their credit reports two months and six months from now to verify financial information.
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Daniel Perry covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4454. For this and other stories, visit www.themonitor.com.
