Ben Zimmer’s On Language column in the New York Times magazine section discusses the use of the word “leak.” Although the context of his column are leaks of a political nature such as the Afghan war files, it struck me as just applicable to data “leaks.” Here’s a snippet of the column: Do we need…
Author: Dissent
TN: Identity Theft Hits Customers of Mid-South Deli
Natasha Chen reports: Some customers who have recently purchased items at Jason’s Deli found suspicious activity on their credit or debit accounts, some of which is occurring out of state. […] The Memphis Police Department said that they have an open investigation right now, with three victims reporting unauthorized charges on their credit/debit card accounts….
MI: Four sentenced in ID theft
Four Detroit men with possible ties to the Russian Mob have been sentenced for their crimes. Gerrod Johnson, 25, Derrick Ingram, 25, Leon Stevens-Moman, 25, and Ernest Lewis, 21 were convicted of conspiring to commit identity theft, wire fraud, credit card fraud and committing credit card fraud. […] The group apparently purchased the stolen data…
$9 Here, 20 Cents There and a Credit-Card Lawsuit
Randall Stross reports: It’s easier to steal a million dollars a dollar at a time than a million dollars once. So goes an old saying. If the allegations in a civil case filed in a federal court in Chicago hold up, you can even haul off $10 million if you stick to $9 here or…
How to create a ‘super password’
John D. Sutter reports: Say goodbye to those wimpy, eight-letter passwords. The 12-character era of online security is upon us, according to a report published this week by the Georgia Institute of Technology. The researchers used clusters of graphics cards to crack eight-character passwords in less than two hours. But when the researchers applied that…
UK: Hospital bosses told to improve security
Hospital bosses in Wolverhampton have been told to tighten up security in areas where patients’ charts are stored after a computer disk containing almost 800 confidential patient files was found at a city bus stop. The recommendation was made to New Cross hospital bosses by the Information Commission following an investigation into the security breach…