Hartford Life Insurance "misplaces" three backup tapes

I don't often write about identity theft issues, but this just seems so disingenuous. According to Ohio's Tribune Chronicle:

Hartford Life Insurance this week notified the Ohio Department of Insurance that it has misplaced three backup tapes that contain sensitive personal information of some Ohio consumers. The company is notifying all affected individuals and doing an investigation on how the loss occurred.

According to Hartford Life, the loss was discovered Sept. 27.

Geez, they lost tapes and took over a month to report it? Personally, I think that sucks, and can only imagine how angry the affected folks will be. Besides, how does a large company's data center lose tapes?

For more on identity theft issues, I strongly recommend the excellent blog, I've Been Mugged.