Leah Beth Ward of the Yakima Herald-Republic reports: With identity theft on the upswing, Aram Langhans thought he was simply being prudent when he asked the Yakima Heart Center to remove his Social Security number from its files. “They had my insurance card and my driver’s license. What else did they need?” said Langhans, a…
Author: Dissent
UK: Information Commission to probe NHS data security breaches
Richard Staines of Nursing Times reports: A total of 140 security breaches have been reported in the NHS in the first quarter of this year, with tens of thousands of patient records lost, according to the information commissioner. Richard Thomas revealed his concerns in an interview with The Independent, in which he said he has…
UK: Bank worker was arrested for attempted theft
Ecommerce Journal reports that Ansir Khan, an employee of Carter Allen Private Bank, wrote down stolen customer details “in a complex code to avoid detection.” He gave the details to accomplices who then rang up the bank pretending to be the customers, transferring money to their own accounts. A Detective Constable used the Scoutmaster’s A…
Protecting Electronic Data
From a New York Times editorial: In 2005, ChoicePoint, a data broker, gave access to personal information about more than 140,000 people to criminals posing as businesspeople. Since that widely publicized security breach, many states have passed laws protecting consumer information, but Congress still has not come through. Now, the House is considering a bill…
UK: Stolen RAF vice files spark blackmail fear
More details emerge on a breach reported in 2008… David Hencke of Guardian reports: Sensitive files detailing the extra marital affairs, drug taking and use of prostitutes by very senior officers in the RAF have been stolen, raising fears within the Ministry of Defence that personnel could be vulnerable to blackmail. Up to 500 people…
AU: Medical records scattered on Sydney street
From ABC News: New South Wales Police have confirmed that several boxes of sensitive documents containing records from a private nursing home were found on a street in inner Sydney. Police say the boxes of papers were located by a council clean-up crew but a Sydney taxi driver says he stopped to inspect the documents…