Missing Backup Tapes

C|Net News article: Bank of New York Mellon says customer data exposed

The Bank of New York Mellon says sensitive data of more than 4 million people owning shares in public companies was exposed after a box of back-up data storage tapes went missing in February. The data included names, addresses, and Social Security numbers.

Where the hell do these tapes go, anyway? When I read these tapes-gone-missing articles I always picture armed robbers running the tape truck off the road ala some kind of armored car heist. But no, they just go missing, they're not proven to be stolen. It must be the work of Chinese hackers taking a break from planting rogue trees to disable the nation's power infrastructure.

I've been out of the loop on backups for awhile. Does backup software make it easy (if not the default) to encrypt data? If not, it's definitely time.