Zack Whittaker writes: The University of Kent has been found to have breached data protection rules as a result of a disclosure of personal data, relating to an email which could identify other students with disabilities.Yesterday, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data protection agency, assessed that the University unlawfully disclosed personal data, mostly…
Author: Dissent
Student hacked into computers to boost gamer status
Yet another lenient sentence in a hacking case? BBC reports: A student who hacked into more than 100 computers has been given a suspended jail sentence. Paul McLoughlin, 22, from Liverpool, tricked web users into downloading software which enabled him to access their personal information. Police said he wanted to use other people’s gaming accounts…
FL: Pasco couple used stolen IDs, bogus tax returns to pocket cash, deputies say
Molly Moorhead reports: A woman who worked at a Regions bank branch is accused of creating nearly 200 phony bank accounts using real people’s names and information, filing fraudulent tax returns in the victims’ names and then funneling the money to her boyfriend. All told, authorities say, Howayda Hamdan, 28, had more than $1 million…
MA: Lynn man gets 5-year sentence for selling personal information of TSA workers
As a follow-up to a case previously reported in 2010, Associated Press reports that Michael Derring has been sentenced to prison for selling the SSN, dates of birth, and personal information of TSA workers at Logan airport. Derring obtained the information from a relative who worked in TSA’s human resources department.
Breach Notification Proposal Lacks Teeth
Clearly I’m not the only one who was unimpressed with the Obama administration’s plan for a federal data breach notification law. Tracy Kitten reports: The Obama administration’s plan for a federal data breach notification policy is too vague to be effective, and it lacks teeth to penalize violators, critics say. Read more on BankInfoSecurity.com.
CA: Laptop Stolen from Eye Doctor
Jennifer Wadsworth reports: Someone broke into an eye doctor’s office on May 8 and stole a laptop with information about hundreds of patients. The burglar broke into the offices of EyeCare Associates of the San Ramon Valley and took the laptop, which held eye photos and names of 611 patients. There was a lock on…