It has now been about two years since I filed a complaint with the FTC to alert them to all the data security breaches involving Experian’s credit report database. And while I continue to wait to see the FTC take action against Experian over their numerous breaches involving misuse of clients’ login credentials, Experian…
Month: February 2014
AU: Asylum seekers’ identities revealed in Immigration Department data lapse
Oliver Laughland, Paul Farrell and Asher Wolf report: The personal details of a third of all asylum seekers held in Australia – almost 10,000 adults and children – have been inadvertently released by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection in one of the most serious privacy breaches in Australia’s history. A vast database containing…
Ex-employee of Birmingham Social Security office pleads guilty to stealing from beneficiaries
Kelsey Stein reports a follow-up to an insider breach for tax refund fraud involving the Alabama Social Security Department: A former employee of the Social Security Administration office in Birmingham at a hearing Tuesday pleaded guilty to stealing information and benefits. Tabaris Archie Brown, 35, of Montgomery, entered a guilty plea at a hearing Tuesday morning…
Well.ca loses customer credit card data in security breach
Candice So reports: Well.ca, a Canadian online retailer for health and beauty products, has suffered a data breach, potentially losing the credit card information of some of its customers. In an email to its customers today, Well.ca said one of its service providers was “illegally compromised” between Dec. 22, 2013, and Jan. 7, 2014. The company…
UK: NHS in England delays sharing of medical records
Peter Walker and James Meikle report: The NHS delayed for at least six months a controversial plan to share data from people’s medical records on Tuesday following concerns from doctors and patients’ groups, acknowledging there was insufficient public confidence in the scheme. The postponement by NHS England was welcomed by critics who had complained too…
2013 Exposed Records Sets the Stage for Massive Identity Theft
From Risk Based Security: We are pleased to release our Data Breach Quick view report that shows 2013 broke the previous all-time record for the number of exposed records caused by reported data breach incidents. The 2,164 incidents reported during 2013 exposed over 822 million records, nearly doubling the previous highest year on record (2011). Although overshadowed…