Niall O’Connor reports on a major case of social engineering:
Sensitive personal data, including addresses and job details, was handed over by the Department of Social Protection after just one phone call from private investigators pretending to be State officials.
The underhand tactics used to extract confidential information from a leading State agency is revealed in an Irish Independent investigation.
The investigators, acting on behalf of at least a dozen credit unions, were able to get reams of personal data from officials in the country’s biggest-spending department without having to prove who they were.
Read more on Independent.ie. BreakingNews.ie reports that the Data Protection Commissioner is investigating the breach that exposed “addresses, PPS numbers, employment details, whether people are co-habiting with other people and whether they are getting dole payments.”