On February 19, 2010, a laptop belonging to a physician affiliated with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary was stolen while the physician was lecturing in South Korea. The laptop belonged to Dr. Robert Levine, a neurologist with a particular focus on ringing in the ears, or tinnitus. To date, Mass. Eye and Ear has…
Author: Dissent
Cyberattack on Google Said to Hit Password System
John Markoff reports: Ever since Google disclosed in January that Internet intruders had stolen information from its computers, the exact nature and extent of the theft has been a closely guarded company secret. But a person with direct knowledge of the investigation now says that the losses included one of Google’s crown jewels, a password…
Germany named Europe’s top computer virus culprit
Germany hung onto its dubious title as Europe’s leader in spreading computer viruses in 2009, though its share of malicious activity in the region dropped slightly, a survey has found. Some 12 percent of malicious software circulating in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2009 was deliberately spread via computers in Germany, the study…
AU: Health identifiers: more paperwork and fines
Jared Reed reports: Medical groups say heavy fines for practices that breach regulations for the new unique health identifier legislation are unnecessary and will stop doctors using them in the first place. Contravening a minor regulation exposes practices of fines of up to $5,500 a time. The legislation, due for debate in the Senate next…
Hospital board mum on possible privacy violations
Tim Lockette reports: Officials at Regional Medical Center [in Anniston, Alabama] have completed their first look into possible violations of patient privacy at the hospital. But so far, the results of that investigation are, well, private. “This is a peer review document, and as such it is not something we can release to the public,”…
Blood Bank’s computer stolen
Jim Mendoza reports: Honolulu police are on the lookout for thieves who stole a laptop computer from the Blood Bank of Hawaii that held personal information on nearly 40,000 deferred donors. The crime happened on March 29 at the organization’s Dillingham Donor Center. […] Information stored in one of the laptops included donors’ names, birth…