The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has produced a new plain English Guide to Data Protection to provide businesses and organizations with practical advice about the Data Protection Act and dispel myths. The guide will help organizations safeguard personal data and comply with the law. The guide takes a straight-forward look at the principles of the…
Author: Dissent
A rather bland breach notification sparks questions
Steve Ragan reports: Alpha Software Inc., a business that focuses on development tools for businesses wishing to create AJAX-based platforms, recently announced a data breach in a manner so casual, some actually questioned if it was real. […] Dear Customer, We have been informed that there has been a security breach at the Internet Service…
Searchable database of patient records to go commercial
Pamela Lewis Dolan reports: The Cleveland Clinic is backing a startup company that has built a search engine for electronic databases that would allow research using de-identified patient data. A newly formed company called Explorys is commercializing the patient database search system Cleveland Clinic developed. According to Stephen McHale, chief executive officer and co-founder of…
UK: Shredded patient records deliver a gift-wrapped data breach
Tony Collins reports: A Leicestershire businesswoman discovered shredded records of NHS patients, with some information still showing, in packaging material used to protect gift boxes. The records originated from Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Cambridge, which is investigating the incident. Kerry Wilkinson of PennyDog Jewellery in Rothley, Leicestershire, found the patient records when she…
NY: Romanian gets prison for Citizens Bank ATM fraud
Tiberiu Szebeni, 30, of Romania, who was convicted of bank fraud on Aug. 7, 2009, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and 5 years supervised release by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara, U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York announced on November 12. The defendant was…
Open wide and say “Aaaargh”
Bronx man who used social engineering to steal 176 dentists’ info sentenced. Michael A. Roseboro, a/k/a “Mike Ross,” a/k/a “Michael Johnson,” a/k/a “Michael Smith,” was sentenced on November 25 to 116 months in prison for his participation in a massive identity-theft and credit card fraud scheme in which he targeted and stole the identities of…