Tim Cushing reports: Notification of state-sponsored hacking attempts has revealed another weak spot in the US government’s defenses. The security of the government’s systems is an ongoing concern, but the Senate has revealed it’s not doing much to ensure sensitive documents and communications don’t end up in the hands of foreign hackers. Read more on…
Month: January 2018
Postal carrier with high-end taste was stealing credit cards: report
A postal worker who drove around in a 2014 Maserati Quattroporte (might there be a clue there?) allegedly stole credit cards he was supposed to deliver, and then activated the cards by purchasing the individuals’ personal info on the dark web. See NJ.com for more details.
IRIN: Audit exposes UN food agency’s poor data-handling
Vulnerable people in the world’s troublespots could be at risk because of sloppy handling of sensitive data by a UN agency, according to an internal audit. In response, the World Food Programme told IRIN it was “working to get ahead of the curve” on data-handling, would address weaknesses, and spend more on systems. Read Ben…
UK: Former civil servant suing government department after ‘highly sensitive’ medical information reportedly revealed in email
Neal Keeling reports: A former civil servant is suing the government department where he worked after ‘highly sensitive’ medical information about him was reportedly revealed to a dozen colleagues in an email. Lawyers for Aftab Marchant have issued High Court proceedings against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and are seeking damages of up…
Jail for man who hacked 1000 student email accounts in search for sexually explicit images
There’s a follow-up to a case I previously noted on this site in November, 2016. Graham Cluley reports: A 30-year-old man has sentenced to six months in prison, after he was found guilty of accessing more than 1,000 email accounts at a New York City-area university in a hunt for sexually explicit photographs and videos…
Former employee of Veterans Affairs indicted for attempted sale of personal info of veterans and employees
LITTLE ROCK—Cody Hiland, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging Phillip Hill, 32, of Benton, a former Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) database manager, with attempting to sell the personal information of veterans and VA employees. The indictment, returned by a grand jury in the…