A Google map showing government IT breaches

OhMyGov outdid itself by taking a page from Google maps, pinpointing exactly where in the United States government breaches have occurred. It's a terrific idea, and a very visual one that gives the viewers a picture of what happened this year in the growing world of IT breaches. It's pretty scary to look at the map and see the extent of the violations.

The list is a long one, and includes breaches of the last several years. There is no rhyme or reason to what was lost, but clearly the lack of tight policies helped these thefts occur.

Among them:

• USAJobs.gov was hacked in Jan. 2009.
• A VA hard drive has been missing since Jan. 2007.
• The U.S. Congressional Budget Office was hacked in Oct. 2006.
• A laptop from Camp Pendleton has been missing since Oct. 2006.
• More than 1,100 laptops have been reported missing from the Department of Commerce since Sept. 2006.
• A Department of Transportation laptop was stolen out of government vehicle in July 2006.

It's quite disheartening to see these breaches spread out on a map, and even more disturbing to realize that most of this data will never be recovered. Hopefully, the government agencies involved have taken preemptive measures to discontinue the programs outlined in the data lost and to protect the programs from more damage.

It's also important to make sure all government information is encrypted, so if there is a lost or stolen laptop, no one can access the information.

To learn more:
- check out the map

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