March 18 (Bloomberg) — A U.S. Internal Revenue Service employee took home a computer thumb drive containing unencrypted data on 20,000 fellow workers, the agency said in a statement today.
The tax agency's systems that hold personal data on hundreds of millions of Americans weren't breached, the statement said.
"This incident is a powerful reminder to all of us that we must do everything we can to protect sensitive data –- whether it involves our fellow employees or taxpayers," IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a message to employees. "This was not a problem with our network or systems, but rather an isolated incident."
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