Sometimes modern tech doesn't always trounce the old ways. Take the case of the laptop containing the Social Security numbers and other personal details of 38,000 BP employees in the US. The international accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young distributed a letter to all concerned that that laptop was stolen.

The thing is, it wasn't the first time the company had to issue an Ooops Letter. Ernst & Young has a string of bad luck with laptops. Last January a similar theft compromised information about Sun, IBM, and Cisco employees. In addition, four more laptops were also stolen in Miami although the company won't say how many clients and what clients' data may have been compromised. They did say their employees were still in the process of licking some 500,000 stamps. Memo to Ernst & Young: Get some data encryption...