Ethel Smith reports: Government offices have had problems in the past with storing confidential data. Services such as the NHS have tightened their procedures considerably. Despite that, the UK Hospital Trust, which operates where I live, has recently had a member of staff lose confidential data. It seems that a junior doctor did not follow…
Author: Dissent
US iPad users’ data stolen, sets criminal charges
Developing: U.S. investigators plan to announce criminal charges concerning the alleged theft of email addresses and other personal information belonging to about 120,000 users of Apple Inc’s iPad tablet computer. Read more from Reuters on Montreal Gazette. I’ll have more on this after the announcement.
UK: Wandsworth Council apologises after residents’ personal details published online
Ian Mason reports: Red-faced town hall bosses have issued a public apology after residents’ personal details were accidentally published online. Wandsworth Council blamed the blunder on a “temporary glitch” in an automated electoral roll registration system which resulted in an undisclosed number of personal details being sold to a third-party company. The information leak was…
AU: ‘Malicious hacker’ breaches University of Sydney website
Ben Grubb reports that the university got a very public demonstration of the need to harden their security. Although no personal information was reportedly accessed or acquired, the university got the message: A hacker who claims not to be qualified has breached Sydney University’s computer security in an apparent bid to embarrass administrators. But, as…
National Breach Warning System Urged
Tracy Kitten writes: Forty-six states have breach-notification laws on the books, but no law is the same, and enforcement is weak. In 2011, as malicious breaches continue and the sophistication of cyberattacks increases, Foley, co-founder of the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Center, says it’s time for a national breach notification law. “This would be easier…
Trapster.com reportedly notifies users of hack, advises changing password
Jake Kouns of DataLossDB.org kindly sends along this notice, reportedly from Trapster. The site, which is intended to help users avoid speed traps and other hazards, reports another kind of hazard – that its site was hacked and user email addresses and passwords may have been accessed or acquired. Peer360 provides a copy of the…