Raleigh, N.C. (Associated Press) - Used state government computers may have been sold to the public with Social Security numbers and other sensitive information still on their hard drives, according to a state audit released Wednesday. Bank account numbers and agency passwords that could be used to hack into the state computer network also were left on hard drives, officials said.
"Absolutely, they went to the public," said Dennis Patterson, a spokesman for the state auditor's department. "We've got to assume that our sample is probably indicative of what was in the rest" of what was sold to the public.
He referred questions about how many computers with sensitive information passed into the public's hands to the state's Surplus Property Agency, which did not immediately return a call. The findings raise worries about identity theft, State Auditor Ralph Campbell said.