Yesterday, following the Congressional hearing where Sony and Epsilon testified, we had a bit of a lively – if truncated – debate on Twitter about breach notification. Not surprisingly, George V. Hulme raised the issue of breach notice fatigue and how notifications should be confined to situations where there is some real risk. Also not…
Category: Breach Incidents
Global Financial Aid Services reports a completely avoidable security breach
For those who remember the Peter, Paul, and Mary song, feel free to sing along with me: “When will they ever learn? Oh when will they ever learn?” Global Financial Aid Services of Gulfport, Mississippi recently notified the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office that a laptop containing unencrypted student names, addresses, and Social Security Numbers…
Hackers say Acer breach leaked data for 40,000 users
Dan Goodin reports: Hackers say they breached the website security of computer-maker Acer and made off with data for 40,000 of its customers. Screenshots posted on Friday on The Hacker News appeared to show the purchase histories, names, email addresses, and partial addresses and phone numbers for a limited number of customers stored on acer-euro.com. The site said…
CA: SF utilities agency warns of potential breach
Elinor Mills reports: The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is warning its customers that their personal data may have been exposed in a recent breach, an SFPUC spokesman told CNET today. SFPUC noticed a few weeks ago that an unsecured server that was storing customer data also had some viruses on it, according to spokesman…
WA: Man gets 15 years in county’s largest ID-theft case
Jeremy Pawloski reports on a case that reminds us that low-tech crimes still exist and can affect numerous people A judge sentenced an Olympia-area man to 15 years in prison Thursday in connection with what law enforcement has called Thurston County’s largest identity-theft case. Anthony Vaughn, 31, earlier had pleaded guilty to three counts of…
Lawmakers Question Sony, Epsilon on Data Breaches
Grant Gross reports: Recent data breaches at Sony’s PlayStation Network and at e-mail service provider Epsilon will lead to legislation focused on improving cybersecurity at U.S. companies, the chairwoman of a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee said Thursday. Representative Mary Bono Mack, a California Republican, said she will soon introduce legislation focused on ensuring that…