The Home Office broke data protection laws when a contractor lost a memory stick with information on thousands of prisoners, a watchdog has ruled. The Information Commissioner’s Office said the Home Office must also sign a formal undertaking to improve its procedures for protecting data. A PA Consulting employee left the stick in an unlocked…
Category: Breach Incidents
First Data confirms: STAR Network not breached
Over on The Breach Blog, Evan was as confused as I was by Forcht’s Bank notification and description of the breach involving their customers’ debit cards. Forcht had written to its customers on Jan. 12: We have just been informed by our debit card processor, STAR, that a retail merchant processor’s information who housed information…
PA: Woman used inside credit info for identity theft, police say
A former Allentown woman used inside information from the real estate company where she worked to help a Philadelphia man steal multiple identities in the Lehigh Valley and accumulate more than $100,000 in purchases and loans, state police at Fogelsville said. Carniola Santana, 24, who now has a New York City address, allegedly took information…
Data Theft Hits Mainers
Fraudulent charges from Heartland breach were appearing between May 16 and August 19th. Tux Turkel reports: Hundreds of Maine credit and debit card holders appear to have been victims of a nationwide data theft carried out against Heartland Payment Systems, which processes cards for 250,000 restaurants, retailers and other businesses. Several Maine credit unions have…
UK: Fraud expert uncovers security breach at Lloyds TSB
James McCarthy reports: A fraud expert was shocked to receive a confidential letter from a major bank – complete with the private account details of 14 other customers. Anne Gwilliam said that when she phoned Lloyds TSB to alert them, the operator told her the gaffe was a “major security breach” and promised someone would…
FTC Says Mortgage Broker Broke Data Security Laws: Dumpster Wrong Place for Consumers’ Personal Information
The Federal Trade Commission has charged a mortgage broker with discarding consumers’ tax returns, credit reports, and other sensitive personal and financial information in an unsecured dumpster, in violation of federal law. According to the FTC, in December 2006, approximately 40 boxes containing consumer records were found in a publicly-accessible dumpster. The records included tax…