DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

MD: IRS employee not guilty of inadvertent disclosures

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Dissent

There’s an update on a breach first disclosed in March that involved an IRS employee who took data with home and uploaded it to his unsecured home network, where it was discovered by a security firm.  It seems that the employee had subsequently been charged criminally in the breach, but has been found not guilty. Jim McElhatton explains:

A federal jury in Maryland found Carl Sheerer not guilty of misdemeanor charges, rejecting prosecutors’ effort to punish someone for a breach discovered by a private security firm last year.

Mr. Sheerer, an IT employee who handled identification badge computer systems in three states, stored backed-up IRS data on a thumb drive, then placed it on a file transfer protocol server at his house in Maryland, according to the evidence.

From there, the information was indexed by Google and made public, though there’s no evidence anyone other than a security firm researcher stumbled across the data.

Mr. Sheerer’s attorney, Daniel Wright, said in an interview after the trial last week that prosecutors couldn’t produce any evidence that the data breach was intentional.

“Prosecutors also did not produce evidence that anyone’s identity was stolen or that anyone other than the New York employee had ever accessed the data,” he said.

Read more on Washington Times.

If employees were charged with misdemeanors every time their  failure to follow policy resulted in a breach or potential breach of personal information, our courts would be overwhelmed. Wouldn’t it be more effective to look at IRS’s controls for preventing this kind of downloading to portable devices?

Category: ExposureGovernment SectorInsiderU.S.

Post navigation

← CORRECTION: NO Nationwide Insurance breach
IE: Alan Shatter begins appeal over Data Commissioner finding →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Washington Post investigating cyberattack on journalists, WSJ reports
  • Resource: State Data Breach Notification Laws – June 2025
  • WestJet investigates cyberattack disrupting internal systems
  • Plastic surgeons often store nude photos of patients with their identity information. When would we call that “negligent?”
  • India: Servers of two city hospitals hacked; police register FIR
  • Ph: Coop Hospital confirms probe into reported cyberattack
  • Slapped wrists for Financial Conduct Authority staff who emailed work data home
  • School Districts Unaware BoardDocs Software Published Their Private Files
  • A guilty plea in the PowerSchool case still leaves unanswered questions
  • Brussels Parliament hit by cyber-attack

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Vermont signs Kids Code into law, faces legal challenges
  • Data Categories and Surveillance Pricing: Ferguson’s Nuanced Approach to Privacy Innovation
  • Anne Wojcicki Wins Bidding for 23andMe
  • Would you — or wouldn’t you?
  • New York passes a bill to prevent AI-fueled disasters
  • Synthetic Data and the Illusion of Privacy: Legal Risks of Using De-Identified AI Training Sets
  • States sue to block the sale of genetic data collected by DNA testing company 23andMe

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.