Alan Gustafson reports: Sloppy handling of confidential records by a state agency in Salem left people’s names, Social Security numbers, ages and addresses exposed in an open recycling bin outdoors. The blunder by the Housing and Community Services agency put low-income, elderly and disabled residents at risk of becoming targets of identity theft or other…
Author: Dissent
Stolen laptop held birth data on all Belizeans
I supposed it was inevitable. A country’s entire population has had their birth certificate information stolen — and yes, because a laptop was left in an employee’s car. Channel 5 in Belize reports: Police are investigating the theft of a laptop that they fear could result in cases of identity theft. That’s because the stolen…
NH: Mayor’s e-mail used for 650,000 messages
Manchester – An estimated 650,000 of Mayor Frank Guinta’s closest friends received messages sent from his city e-mail account Wednesday night and early Thanksgiving Day. Well, maybe not his friends. Someone hacked the mayor’s City Hall account and used it to send the 650,000 messages. Guinta yesterday said he found out about the messaging on…
NH: Pathology lab doctors say WDH punishing them for reporting privacy breaches by rogue employee
Adam D. Krauss reports on a case of what seems to involve patient record tampering without any clear financial or other motivation. In a fairly detailed story, Krauss discusses some of both the privacy and data security issues: Two doctors who run the pathology lab at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital say they’ll soon be out of a…
NZ: International gang suspected in massive carpark scam
Bernard Orsman has more on what appears to be a significant breach in New Zealand that may have affected over 100,000: A banking investigation has raised the possibility that stolen credit card details of tens of thousands of New Zealanders are in the hands of a Russian or Albanian gang. The theft of credit card…
Wake Radiology out of UNC-CH Mammography study
Eric Ferreri recently reported a follow-up to the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill mammography study breach: Wake Radiology has suspended its relationship with the UNC Chapel Hill medical school study whose computer server was recently hacked, exposing personal data including social security numbers of more than 100,000 patients. The practice will only participate again…