A few days ago, I received an inquiry from someone who had logged into her USPS online store account, only to see another customer’s name, address, and last four digits of their credit card number. Understandably concerned, she contacted customer service who told her that it was a “known error” and that letters would be…
Author: Dissent
NJ: Rogue SSA employee provided Social Security Numbers for a bank fraud scheme
Another insider breach involving the Social Security Administration has come to light. In a federal court in New Jersey this week, Syed Rehman, 44, of Jersey City, admitted his role in a bank fraud scheme in which he used unlawfully obtained Social Security numbers to obtain credit cards and mortgages, causing four banks to lose…
Pension leak may dig into Russians’ pockets
Personal client data from the Russian Pension Fund has leaked onto the Internet. The Fund’s website published the full names and insurance and savings-account values of some of its clients. The information was removed within an hour of the leak, but it remained online in cached form, and could be accessed via a search on…
Spreadsheet with info on 19,276 University of Texas-Pan American students exposed on the Internet
According to its student newspaper, PanAmerican Online, The University of Texas-Pan American has e-mailed an alert to students affected by a security breach. The text of the e-mail is reportedly as follows: On Nov. 2, 2011, The University of Texas-Pan American discovered that on Sept. 1, 2011, a spreadsheet containing information on 19,276 students was made…
Virginia Commonwealth University alerts 176,567 faculty, staff, students and affiliates to hacking incident
A notice was posted today on Virginia Commonwealth University’s web site: To the VCU and VCU Health System communities: A security incident has resulted in unauthorized access to a Virginia Commonwealth University computer server containing files with personal information on current and former VCU and VCU Health System faculty, staff, students and affiliates. We believe the…
What a Children’s Magazine Teaches About Data Breach Management
Mary Landesman wrote a clever commentary on how to respond to breaches. Landesman uses Goofus and Gallant from the children’s Highlights magazine to contrast different types of responses with examples drawn from two healthcare sector breaches involving the University of North Carolina. If we teach our children to emulate Gallant and not Goofus, can those…