Over on I’ve Been Mugged, George Jenkins describes what he learned when he and his wife really pursued the question of how Medical Informatics Engineering had wound up with his wife’s personal information caught up in their breach. It’s a long – but important – read, as it highlights routine business practices that may come…
Category: Business Sector
Ashley Madison lawsuit drops GoDaddy and Amazon as defendants
Alexander J. Martin reports: Amazon and GoDaddy have been dropped as defendants in an ongoing lawsuit over hosted data from have-an-affair site Ashley Madison – as the plaintiffs try and force offending websites to delete the data ahead of any future trial. Read more on The Register. It appears that the plaintiffs are now seeking…
AU: Vodafone ‘fesses up to hack of journalist’s phone, denies ‘improper behaviour’
Kelly Fiveash reports: The Australian division of mobile giant Vodafone has admitted that one of its employees illegally accessed the phone records of a journalist to try to uncover her sources, following publication of a negative story. However, Vodafone – which first investigated allegations of a privacy breach four years ago – has strongly denied…
CVS confirms customer data stolen in PNI Digital Media attack (updated)
There’s an update to the PNI Digital Media breach that affected the online photo centers for major retailers such as CVS, Costco, Walmart, RiteAid, Sam’s Club. The breach was first disclosed over the summer, but now AP reports that investigators for CVS have not only confirmed the hack, but some customers’ information may have been…
Ex-president of GOP media company gets probation, fine for hacking
Randy Ludlow reports: The former president of a prominent Republican political-advertising firm received no prison time on Wednesday for three charges stemming from his dismissal. Nicholas P. Everhart, formerly of Strategy Group for Media, was fined $2,800 and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service by Delaware County Common Pleas Judge David Gormley. He…
Once seen as bulletproof, 11 million+ Ashley Madison passwords already cracked
Dan Goodin reports: When the Ashley Madison hackers leaked close to 100 gigabytes’ worth of sensitive documents belonging to the online dating service for people cheating on their romantic partners, there seemed to be one saving grace. User passwords were cryptographically protected using bcrypt, an algorithm so slow and computationally demanding it would literally take centuries…