In an initial statement issued after the break-in, Nevada DMV officials had said that the stolen equipment was useless without being connected to the DMV's network. However, in discussions with Digimarc, the state's vendor for the identification issuing system, the agency was told that the stolen computer did in fact contain personal information that could be accessed without the computer being connected to the DMV's network.
Ginny Lewis, director of the state's Department of Motor Vehicles, stressed that no financial information such as credit card or bank account numbers was on the stolen computer.
She said that the group of people who had their information stolen included Nevada residents who were issued a driver's license at the Donovan office between November 25, 2004 and March 4, 2005. No one else was affected, Lewis said. She advised residents to check the issue date on their licenses located in the upper right hand corner. Each of those residents will receive a new license and the old one will be invalidated after motorists have received their new licenses.
The department expects to mail letters to those affected explaining what happened and a new license this week,
While Lewis said that she wasn't certain what happened at the North Las Vegas office couldn't happen again, she did say that the department has reconfigured its computers so no files remain on them when the offices are closed. The department has also changed some internal processes,
