Auditors have told lawmakers that the Nevada Department of Corrections has had serious computer and copier security problems — including the fact that prison officials were unaware that high-tech copy machines have a hard drive that stores images of everything copied.
That includes driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers and other documents that contain personal information. According to auditors, those hard drives need to be erased when a copier is sold or turned back to the supplier to prevent that information from getting into the wrong hands.
“I had no idea photo copiers kept that kind of information,” said Audit Subcommittee Chair Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas. “I believe they copied my driver’s license when we visited Lovelock prison, so I’m in somebody’s database.”
In addition, auditors said, about one-quarter of the desktop computers in the prison system were missing security updates, making them vulnerable to hackers.
Prison officials accepted the audit recommendations and advised the subcommittee that the problems are already being corrected.
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