Paul Peachey reports: The welcome screen on the prison laptop was simple to navigate. Prison officials clicked on the dog icon, inmates clicked on the cat. Clicking on the dog – and entering the password – allowed access to a section with administrator privileges and access to the internet. The cat was a gateway to…
Month: August 2015
More details emerge on UVa attack
Dean Seal has some additional details on the University of Virginia attack reported yesterday. Of note, the attack appeared to be from China and specifically targeted the email accounts of two employees whose work is connected with China. Read more on Daily Progress.
Data breach penalties gain overwhelming support from Australian IT: survey
Chris Player reports: Australian IT professionals are overwhelmingly supportive of penalties for company data breaches according to a new survey from security firm, Websense. The survey of 100 Australian security professionals found that 98 per cent of respondents believed that the law should address serious data breaches that expose consumers’ data loss. Of those, 59…
Illinois Dept. of Corrections says personal data of at least 1,000 employees accidentally released in response to FOIA request
Leeann Shelton reports another privacy breach due to a response to a Freedom of Information request: More than 1,000 Social Security numbers belonging to Illinois Department of Corrections employees were inadvertently released in a response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The affected employees work at the Lawrence and Dixon correctional centers, Acting IDOC…
Anxiety UK signs undertaking after member data was exposed for 12 months
Anxiety UK has signed an undertaking with the Information Commissioner’s Office after personal data held within a password protected area of Anxiety UK’s website, was publically available for approximately 12 months via an internet search engine. The ICO was notified of the breach in February 2015 by Anxiety UK. Investigation revealed that the information had…
University of Virginia information technology systems compromised by hackers
Ella Shoup reports: Several portions of the University’s information technology systems were illegally accessed by “sophisticated attackers originating in China” earlier this year, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Patrick Hogan said in an email Friday to members of the University community. The University first became aware of a possible breach when notified by…