A laptop stolen from a locked facility at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies on October 15th reportedly contained the names and Social Security Numbers of students who had applied to study abroad in China between 1994 and 2006. The laptop belonged to a recruiter for the center. According to a notification sent to the…
Month: December 2009
UCSF doc falls for phish, exposes patient info
Chris Rauber reports: UC San Francisco said late Tuesday it has alerted 600 patients and others that an external hacker may have obtained “temporary access to emails containing their personal information” as a result of a late September phishing scam. The breach occurred about three months ago, and was investigated in mid-October, but wasn’t disclosed…
Drug data mining ban unlikely in Senate health bill
Susan Heavey reports: A Democratic proposal to ban the collection of doctors’ prescription records for marketing purposes is unlikely to be included as part of the Senate’s overall health reform bill, a Senate staff member said on Monday. A member of the staff of Senator Herb Kohl, a main sponsor of the amendment, said the…
BJ’s, Bank Not Liable for Credit Card Fraud
CUMIS Insurance Society and the credit unions it insures have failed in their lawsuit against BJ’s Wholesale Club and Fifth Third Bank over a 2004 breach that affected 9.2 million cardholders. The background of the case, as summarized in the court opinion: In February, 2004, Visa and MasterCard determined that computer thieves had gained access…
Personal information stolen from Detroit’s health department
Christine MacDonald reports on two breaches in the Detroit area: Police are investigating two incidents in which patients’ medical records — including social security numbers — were stolen from the city’s health department. The first theft occurred in late October when a flash drive was stolen from a health department employee’s car. It contained files…
(update) Texas company lays out ‘hacking’ case against Minnesota Public Radio
David Brauer has more on Lookout Services’s allegations against a Minnesota Public Radio reporter, following a breach reported here previously. […] In a Dec. 11 report, [MPR reporter] Aslanian said she was able to see “employee names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and hire dates” on Lookout’s web site “without using a password or encryption…