The only real difference between the incident in Arizona and most of the disclosed over the past few years is the fact that the compromise at the DES involved the personal data of a large number of children. Other than that, it continues the steady drum beat of breach disclosures resulting from the loss or theft of laptops and storage devices.

Earlier this week, for instance, Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System began notifying of the potential compromise of their Social Security numbers and other personal information after a laptop containing the data was stolen in September.

The , which maintains a dating back to 2005, lists dozens of incidents involving lost or stolen equipment for this year. Among them were a that compromised sensitive data about 2,500 participants in a cardiac study conducted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and a similar incident involving at

Such incidents have prompted security analysts to long advocate the use of data encryption technologies. But as the continuing string of breach disclosures indicates, many organizations still aren't following that advice.

That inaction has spurred some states to try to take matters into their own hands by enacting . For instance, Massachusetts earlier this year approved a law all entities operating in the state to encrypt sensitive data while it is at rest, in transit and in storage. Regulations based on the statue are scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1.