The 111th Congress is now in session, and the first data-protection bills have been introduced today: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Tuesday introduced a pair of data security bills — one that would require businesses to notify consumers in the event of a security breach and another, co-sponsored by Sens. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and Olympia…
Author: Dissent
UK: Sacked IT admin sentenced for hacking ex-employer
Dan Goodin reports: A British IT admin was ordered to pay more than £3,000 and given a three-months jail sentence after being accused of hacking into his former employer’s computer system so he could install spyware and delete emails. Julius Oladiran, 46, of South Norwood, admitted making a false statement and gaining unauthorized access to…
AR: Discarded documents lead to worries
Mary Kincy Benefield reports: Aaron Janus of Russellville completed a Western Union transaction in 2007. The Boston Mountain Copper Company — which receives its mail at a post office box — contracted with Entergy for its electricity in August 2004. And the fee to send an international money order from the Four Seasons Market in…
Soapblox hacked, quits, tries to re-start
Slightly OT, but a reader alerted me to this: On January 6, SoapBlox, a blogging community for mostly political bloggers, posted the following: SoapBlox is Dead It was a good ride, but it’s over. Thanks for all the fish. All these hackers messing with our stuff, and we here at SoapBlox have no clue what…
Weak Password Brings ‘Happiness’ to Twitter Hacker
Kim Zetter reports: An 18-year-old hacker with a history of celebrity pranks has admitted to Monday’s hijacking of multiple high-profile Twitter accounts, including President-Elect Barack Obama’s, and the official feed for Fox News. The hacker, who goes by the handle GMZ, told Threat Level on Tuesday he gained entry to Twitter’s administrative control panel by…
OH: ‘Joe the Plumber’ bill OK’d by Strickland
William Hershey reports: Gov. Ted Strickland has signed legislation aimed at ending “Joe the Plumber”-style government snooping. Substitute House Bill 648, sponsored by Rep. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, creates civil and criminal penalties for violating rules regarding access to personal information on state databases. Read more in The Western Star