Personal and health information of 918,000 vulnerable seniors was exposed on the Internet for months by a software developer working on a project. No one would have even known about it if the leak hadn’t been found by a guy with “too much time on his hands.” Before you give your personal or health insurance…
Category: U.S.
Excellus case offers a glimpse into the dark web of private data
Steve Orr of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle has an interesting follow-up to the Excellus incident that was covered on this site in earlier posts. It seems plaintiff-members who are suing Excellus over the incident claim that their information was found up for sale on the dark web. But who’s selling it, and are the…
Breach of Financial-Aid Tool May Have Compromised Data on 100,000 Taxpayers
Adam Harris reports: Nearly 100,000 taxpayers may have had their personal information compromised by a security breach of an Internal Revenue Service tool that makes it easier to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the Fafsa, according to the IRS commissioner, John Koskinen, who testified on Thursdaybefore the Senate Finance Committee. The tool,…
New Tenn. Law: No Breach Notice Needed if Data Encrypted
Andrew M. Ballard reports: Companies don’t need to notify Tennessee citizens of personal data breaches if the information was encrypted, under a new law that took effect April 4 and clarifies confusion created by a 2016 amendment. The measure reinstates language in the state’s data breach notice law to remove any doubt that companies do…
Nearly Every Corner of W.Va. Courthouse Affected by ID Theft
Tina Alvey reports: Identity theft is a crime that just keeps on taking. Employees at the Monroe County Courthouse are among the latest victims of an apparent information highjacking, but at this point no one is even certain if the stolen data came from electronic or paper records. All that county officials are sure of…
Auditor: City employee improperly used personal information database
Lynnsey Gardner reports: A Duval County clerk of courts employee is under fire after a City Council auditor’s report showed the employee improperly accessed personal information from a statewide database. The Driver and Vehicle Information Database contains a wealth of confidential personal information for Florida drivers — such as driver’s license number, home address, license…