Robert McMillan reports: The malicious software used to steal information from companies such as Google contains code that links it to China, a security researcher said Tuesday After examining the back-door Hydraq Trojan used in the hack, SecureWorks researcher Joe Stewart found that it used an unusual algorithm to check for data corruption when it…
Author: Dissent
German DPA Fines Drugstore Chain €137,500 for Illegal Collection of Health Data
On January 11, 2010, the data protection authority of the German federal state of Baden-Wurtemberg issued a press release stating that it had fined the Müller Group €137,500 for illegal retention of health-related data and failure to appoint a Data Protection Officer. In April 2009, the German press reported that the Müller Group, a drugstore…
UK: Large databases can never be secure
Henry Porter writes: The decision by Scotland’s Crown Office not to prosecute Dr Andrew Jamieson for accessing the emergency care summary (ECS) records of well-known people is interesting. Despite the absence of a conviction, the case involving footballers, politicans and BBC journalists is significant because it shows that big centralised databases are the enemy of…
Chase bank seems a bit too loose with clients’ data
David Lazarus writes: West Hills resident Victoria Afonina works as a computer programmer for a major supermarket chain, so she knows probably better than most people how vulnerable her personal information is once it gets out into the open. She routinely tells banks and other financial-service providers that they can’t share her information with other…
Ie: Data tape with bill details lost
A data tape containing information from 12,799 electricity bills has been lost. Old billing information, names and addresses are included on the record of payment demands produced on August 10 last year, NIE Energy said. It did not contain any banking details but the electricity company has written to customers. The latest loss follows a…
Patient Data Safety Rules Widely Disregarded, Unenforced
Joe Eaton reports: As the federal government prepares to spend up to $27 billion in stimulus funds to promote electronic medical records, a health technology industry survey suggests that a number of hospitals, health clinics, and insurance firms are violating federal security rules on patient data and putting sensitive health information at risk. The November…