We all know how I love reporting on laptops stolen from cars because it’s just such an unusual thing and no one could have possibly foreseen it, right? Ted Shockley reports: An Accomack employee had a county-owned laptop computer stolen while on a personal vacation to Las Vegas, and with it the names and Social…
Author: Dissent
A puzzling USAA Federal Savings Bank breach report and 10 more reports
Here are another 11 breach notifications submitted to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. These were filed in May and June, and in all but one case, we didn’t know about them through the media or other sources. A breach involving USAA Federal Savings Bank had previously been noted on this site, but there’s more to…
Orange Regional Medical Center asks investigators for info on breach
Following revelations yesterday by the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office of a massive Medicare fraud scam that utilized patient data stolen, in part, from Orange Regional Medical Center in New York, I asked the center whether they had known about the breach when it occurred in 2005 and whether and when patients were notified of…
Now if it was your medical info, how would you feel?
On June 10, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield notified the Maryland Attorney General’s Office of a breach involving member information. According to their letter, a CareFirst associate leaving the Canton office did not transport member information securely. As a result, part of a member’s file fell out of the associate’s bag, where it was discovered by someone…
Error by Veterans Affairs vendor exposed 3,936 veterans’ SSN in mailing
In its most recent report to Congress, the Veterans Affairs Department reported that on August 25, 6,299 out of the 69,366 “Benefit Summary” letters intended for veterans and non-veterans in Massachusetts were mailed to incorrect addresses. The letters contained the veterans’ and non-veterans’ benefit information including their claim number, which, in some instances, was the…
The war on drugs makes flu sufferers felons
Jim Edwards asks, “Why Do Police Want a Centralized Database of Flu Sufferers?” A federal law intended to restrict the crystal meth trade is leading to a centralized police database of flu sufferers. In a rash of recent cases across the South and Midwest, people innocently buying the nasal decongestant pseudoephedrine – often sold as Pfizer (PFE)’s Sudafed, Dimetapp,…