From the StarDemocrat: A Gaithersburg man will serve at least two years in prison for an identity theft scheme that included Eastern Shore residents, the U.S. Attorney for District of Maryland announced last week. Jain Vivek, 26, pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of…
Author: Dissent
IL: 4,200 Medical Records Stored Inside Slowed Fire Cleanup
After 10 years or so of covering breaches and data loss, it takes a bit to shock me, but this news story by John H. Croessman had my eyebrows involuntarily elevating: When members of the Pinckneyville City Council hammered physician Tim Mathis on television interviews recently about why it has taken so long to clean…
UK: Council lost memory stick containing 18,000 residents’ details
Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council breached the Data Protection Act by losing an unencrypted memory stick containing the details of over 18,000 residents, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said today. The ICO has required the council to put changes in place and will check to ensure the improvements have been made. The memory stick – which…
Maloney Properties reports laptop theft containing residents’ Social Security Numbers
Maloney Properties has seemingly joined the “stolen laptop” ranks. By letter dated October 28 to those affected, the Massachusetts-based firm reported that a laptop stolen on October 15 contained some limited resident housing data including unencrypted Social Security numbers. The firm explained that it was necessary to store SSN because of federal and state housing…
Study finds many turn to lawsuits following a data breach
Dan Kaplan reports: More than half of American consumers would sue a company that loses its personal information, according to a survey released Wednesday by IT firm Unisys. The twice-a-year Unisys Security Index, which polled 1,000 Americans on information security concerns, found that 53 percent would take legal action in the event of a data…
E-mail failure-to-bcc error exposes U. Alabama students’ failing grades to each other
Taylor Holland reports: Students who had at least one failing midterm grade during the Fall 2011 semester received an email on Oct. 26 from the office of Lowell Davis, the assistant dean of students, notifying them of their grade and potential ways to improve it. Students who received the email were not blind copied in…