Kim Zetter reports: Albert Gonzalez, who has admitted hacking into TJX and other companies, has filed a plea agreement in charges that he breached Heartland Payment Systems, Hannaford, 7-Eleven and two other companies. Under the terms of the agreement, Gonzalez, a former Secret Service informant, will plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy to gain…
Category: Business Sector
(update) RockYou admits security snafu exposed email login details
John Leyden reports: Social media application developer RockYou has vowed to improve its security and apply encryption following a breach that exposed 32 million user login credentials to hackers. Sensitive login credentials – stored in plain text – were left open to attack as a result of an SQL injection vulnerability in RockYou’s website. In…
AZ: Former owner of Citrus Café arrested in Texas; faces fraud charges
Edythe Jensen reports: A self-proclaimed foodie and former owner of the posh Citrus Café in Chandler will likely be eating jail chow instead of escargot and chardonnay while he awaits trial on multiple theft and fraud charges. Andrew Paparella Jr., 36, was extradited to Chandler from Texas Thursday, said police spokesman David Ramer. He was…
Laptop stolen from The Beijing Center contained applicants’ SSN
A laptop stolen from a locked facility at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies on October 15th reportedly contained the names and Social Security Numbers of students who had applied to study abroad in China between 1994 and 2006. The laptop belonged to a recruiter for the center. According to a notification sent to the…
BJ’s, Bank Not Liable for Credit Card Fraud
CUMIS Insurance Society and the credit unions it insures have failed in their lawsuit against BJ’s Wholesale Club and Fifth Third Bank over a 2004 breach that affected 9.2 million cardholders. The background of the case, as summarized in the court opinion: In February, 2004, Visa and MasterCard determined that computer thieves had gained access…
(update) Texas company lays out ‘hacking’ case against Minnesota Public Radio
David Brauer has more on Lookout Services’s allegations against a Minnesota Public Radio reporter, following a breach reported here previously. […] In a Dec. 11 report, [MPR reporter] Aslanian said she was able to see “employee names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and hire dates” on Lookout’s web site “without using a password or encryption…