Brett Barrouquere of the Associated Press reports: A federal judge has given preliminary approval to a settlement between Countrywide Financial Corp., and millions of customers whose detailed financial information was exposed in a security breach. Under the terms of the settlement, Countrywide, now owned by Bank of America, would give up to 17 million people…
Author: Dissent
ID theft and bank fraud ringleader sentenced
Alonzo Lamar Holloway, 44, of Oakland, California, was sentenced on Monday on a four-count Indictment that charged him with bank fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and identity theft. Holloway, who is one of 16 defendants from Oakland charged in a long-running investigation conducted by the…
(Update) AK: Local retailer hacked, credit card info stolen
James Halpin reports: At least 150 Anchorage residents, possibly hundreds more, had their debit and credit card information stolen when a local retailer’s computer records were apparently targeted by hackers, according to Anchorage police. Police estimate the number of local victims could range as high as 1,000 or more in what looks to be an…
Update on Penn State’s malware breaches
From their newsroom: Although most offices are winding down for the holidays, Penn State’s privacy office remains active. The University currently is working to notify nearly 30,000 individuals about privacy breaches that may have exposed their personally identifying information. Malware infections to University computers caused all of the breaches, which occurred in the Eberly College…
Massachusetts’s Highest Court Delivers BJ Wholesalers (and other Retailers) a Data Breach Liability Gift
David Navetta of InformationLawGroup has an analysis of the recent court decision in Cumis Insurance Society, Inc. v. B.J. Wholesale Club decision, reported here earlier this month. This blog post dives into and analyzes the Supreme Court Decision, and looks at it in context against similar decisions. Overall, in terms of issuing banks recovering for…
Coroner looking into leak of Brittany Murphy info
Anthony McCartney of Associated Press reports: Coroner’s officials are looking into how the celebrity Web site TMZ obtained details on prescription drugs contained in an investigator’s report on the death of Brittany Murphy. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said Tuesday he didn’t know how TMZ obtained the confidential report, and that he was concerned other…