TIME OUT: State officials say prison officials may have overstepped their authority in awarding early release to two dozen lifers in the state's prisons. But that authority may just be written in state law and the release may be unavoidable. (N&O)

NINE DIGITS: Social Security numbers for nearly every doctor in North Carolina were stolen this summer, but many just recently found out about the security breach. (N&O)

NOT WITH US: Conservatives in Watertown, N.Y., are working furiously to defeat a Congressional candidate that they say isn't conservative enough to call himself a Republican. (NYT)

Soon, North Carolina residents might be able to ward off possible identity theft by freezing their credit for free.

The legislature gave final approval Thursday to a bill that forces the three major national credit rating bureaus to "freeze" a consumer's credit free of charge, Mandy Locke reports. Previously, only victims of identity theft could get this done at no cost. All others paid $10 a pop with the three bureaus.

The bill will now be presented to the governor for her approval.

A freeze essentially prevents creditors and other vendors from issuing credit in your name or with your social security number. Those who get a freeze can temporarily lift it if they want to secure a credit line, but it can only be done with their permission.

The bill also allows county Registers of Deeds and Clerks of Court to remove consumers social security number from their websites. Businesses will now be required to report security breeches to the state Attorney General's office, not just when it affects more than 1,000 people or more. The bill also blocks creditors from reporting the debt of identity theft victims to credit rating bureaus.

Top administrators at the state Department of Health and Human Services said at a meeting today that laptops must be loaded with encryption software by Thursday.

"Nothing will leave the building until these computers are encrypted," said Tom Lawrence, DHHS spokesman.

DHHS Secretary Dempsey Benton and deputy Dan Stewart talked about the encryption requirement, Lawrence said. They will have a report Thursday on how many laptops meet the requirement, Lynn Bonner reports.

The focus on security comes because an agency laptop stolen in Atlanta last month, a machine that contained Social Security numbers for tens of thousands of Division of Aging and Adult Services clients, did not meet state security standards and left residents exposed to potential identity thieves. Encryption makes computer data unintelligible to unauthorized users.

The division has said that the stolen laptop was scheduled to have the encryption software installed at the same time the employee had it in Atlanta.