John E. Dunn reports: UK law firms were investigated 187 times by the Information Commissioner in 2014 for possible breaches of the Data Protection Act (DPA), a Freedom of Information (FoI) data by encryption firm Egress Software Technologies has revealed. It might be assumed that legal firms would be especially careful with personal data but…
Category: Business Sector
Woman Sentenced For ID Theft From Texas Hotel Computers
KWTX reports that Courtni Heryford, 29, was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing personal information from people who used public computers at some Galveston, Texas hotels. Heryford pleaded guilty Monday in Galveston to fraudulent possession of identifying information. Read more on KWTX, although they don’t explain which hotels or what kind of contact…
Zillow fighting lawsuits alleging theft of trade secrets
I came across two cases in the news this morning, both involving Zillow, that allege insider data theft/trade secrets theft: Move and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) filed additional court documents Friday following receipt of a letter from an anonymous whistleblower, presumably a Zillow employee, who alleges widespread misappropriation of trade secrets and data theft by…
Homebridge (formerly IHSS) notifies home service providers of data compromise and possible misuse of their information
In May 2012, California’s Dept of Social Services notified over 700,000 In-Home Supportive Services providers and recipients that their payroll data, including Social Security numbers, had been lost in the mail. In December 2012, 14,000 In-Home Supportive Services were notified that their personal information, including Social Security numbers, had been exposed on the Internet. Now Homebridge (formerly…
Debt Brokers Settle FTC Charges They Exposed Consumers’ Information Online
Two debt brokers have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they exposed highly sensitive information about tens of thousands of consumers while trying to sell portfolios of consumer debt on a public website. The agreements with the FTC require the defendants to abide by strict new requirements to protect consumers’ sensitive information. In…
Hello Kitty shareholders’ personal information leaked
Monami Yui reports that Sanrio Co., the Japanese owner of the Hello Kitty cartoon character, is investigating whether the data of more than 6,000 shareholders has been leaked. The information may include the names, addresses and phone numbers of as many as 6,249 shareholders who participated in an online rewards program, the Tokyo-based retail and licensing…