Cambridgeshire County Council breached the Data Protection Act by losing a memory stick containing sensitive data relating to vulnerable adults, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said today. The ICO was informed by the council in November 2010 that an employee had recently lost an unencrypted memory stick containing personal data relating to a minimum of…
Author: Dissent
UK: Met called after hackers send obscene emails from university database
Josh Halliday reports: The Metropolitan police has been called in after computer hackers gained access to a London university medical database, sending a string of expletive-laden emails to hundreds of its users. Unidentified hackers sent emails last week pretending that members of the university’s executive board were involved in a “recent child pornography sting” and…
Business Associates May be Liable for HIPAA Compliance
Dom Nicastro writes: The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights intends to strengthen HIPAA compliance requirements under the HITECH Act. The proposed changes would make BAs directly liable for HIPAA breaches, and subcontractors of BAs would also have to be compliant with HITECH and HIPAA. And that means they would have…
TX: Credit/Debit Card Theft at the Drive-Thru
Patti Shieh reports: Police have arrested 21-year-old Dayvon Clement in connection to numerous thefts of credit and debit card numbers in Pearland. He allegedly used a portable, battery-powered skimmer to get the numbers. Police looking for a pattern among ID theft victims discovered that each one had gone through the drive through at the Jack…
KY: Cumberland man, wife accused of stealing IDs from dealership
Bill Estep reports: A former employee of a Harlan County car dealership stole customers’ identities and used the information to buy vehicles under their names, then sell them over the Internet, state police have charged. Paul Anthony Casolari, 42, of Cumberland is charged with 12 counts of identity theft… Read more on Kentucky.com
Emory Healthcare posts statement about breach on its web site
A statement was posted today on Emory’s web site about a breach first reported yesterday: Emory Healthcare recently received notification from external law enforcement agents that 77 of our orthopaedics patients may have been victims of identity theft in May 2008 or January 2009. Please be assured that this was not a breach into the…