Gerald J. Ferguson and of Alan L. Friel of Baker & Hostetler write: The Third Circuit interlocutory decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Wyndham Worldwide Corporation was widely reported as a big win for the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). But on closer examination, it was a split decision in which Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (“Wyndham”) can claim an…
Month: November 2015
Four Winds Casino Resort Payment Card Breach Went On For One Year
From their statement yesterday: Four Winds Casino Resort values the relationship it has with its guests and understands the importance of protecting payment card information. On October 2, 2015, Four Winds received a report that a bank that issues payment cards detected a pattern of unauthorized charges on cards after those cards were used at…
Ten Charged in $11.1 Million Tax Refund Fraud Conspiracy
A federal grand jury returned a 14-count indictment, unsealed yesterday, charging 10 defendants with conspiracy, theft of government funds, and aggravated identity theft. The defendants are: Ja’Baree Vazquez Allen, 26, Tallahassee, Florida; Ronald Edward Brown, 27, Quincy, Florida; Anre’ Juardon Davis, 34, St. Petersburg, Florida; Addrain Montez McMillan, 29, Overland Park, Kansas; Rashard Lavonta McMillian,…
Who Knows What About Me? A Survey of Behind the Scenes Personal Data Sharing to Third Parties by Mobile Apps
A survey by Jinyan Zang, Krysta Dummit, James Graves, Paul Lisker, and Latanya Sweeney will be of interest to some readers. Here’s the Abstract: What types of user data are mobile apps sending to third parties? We chose 110 of the most popular free mobile apps as of June-July 2014 from the Google Play Store and…
Hackers who hacked CIA Director’s personal e-mail claim hack of FBI database
Nathan Ingraham reports: Earlier this year, a hacking group broke into the personal email account of CIA director John Brenner and published a host of sensitive attachments that it got its hands on (yes, Brenner should not have been using his AOL email address for CIA business). Now, Wired reports the group has hit a much more sensitive and presumably secure target:…
CT AG Jepsen, Hartford Hospital, Contractor Reach Agreement Resolving Investigation into Breach of Unencrypted Patient Information
There’s an update to a breach that I previously noted in 2012, and it reinforces the importance of your business associate contracts and the importance of monitoring them if you’re a HIPAA-covered entity: Hartford Hospital and the EMC Corporation will pay $90,000 and have agreed to institute additional training and control measures to resolve an…