Matthew Holehouse reports: The medical records of hundreds of British soldiers are feared to have been lost in Afghanistan, it can be revealed. Two unencrypted laptops used by Army medics in theatre carrying the records of up to 1,300 troops were discovered to be missing in a recent equipment audit. The audit discovered that nine…
Month: January 2015
Why tort liability for data breaches won’t improve cybersecurity
Stewart Baker writes: … So, how much incentive for better security comes from the threat of data breach liability? Some, but not much. As I’ve been saying for a while, the actual damages from data breaches are pretty modest in dollar terms, and the pattern of losses makes it very hard to sustain a single class,…
GA: Brooklet officer fired after security, identity breach
Holli Deal Saxon reports: A former Brooklet police officer fired for sharing information about candidates for the town’s police chief position said he was terminated unfairly and improperly, but the Brooklet city councilman who supervises the police department says the officer was fired for breaking privacy laws. Former police Sgt. Jonathan McGahee was terminated Dec….
Obama to push cybersecurity, identity theft and online access plans
Jim Puzzanghera reports: President Obama will focus on high technology next week, announcing efforts to strengthen cybersecurity, prevent identity theft and increase Internet access, the White House said Saturday. The initiatives will be included in his State of the Union address, which Obama is previewing before the Jan. 20 speech, rather than saving all his…
FBI investigates ISIS hacker group Cyber Caliphate following a series of hacks on news organizations in Maryland, Albuquerque
This is from a few days ago, but should have been noted on this blog. Alejandro Alba reported: The FBI is investigating a series of hacks on U.S. news oulets by Cyber Caliphate, a group that claims to be part of ISIS and is planning a series of cyber-attacks on homes and offices across the…
Christie signs law requiring health insurance companies to encrypt personal information
Susan K. Livio reports: Health insurance companies will be required to protect client information by encrypting the data, under legislation Gov. Chris Christie signed into law today. The bill follows a series of incidents involving stolen laptops containing policyholder information protected only by user passwords. Read more on NJ.com.