A desktop computer with personal data on 4.24 million patients was stolen from a Sacramento medical office a month ago, Sutter officials announced Wednesday morning. The computer was protected with a password, but the stolen records were not encrypted. Experts say this means a data thief with modest technical skills could easily access the records. Sutter officials said the stolen data do not include patient financial records, Social Security numbers or health plan identification numbers. But the information does include other personal and medical information for nearly a million patients in the Sacramento area, as well as those with medical groups in Solano County that merged into the Sutter Medical Foundation on Jan. 1.
