Mark Woolsey reports: A security breach at the Forsyth County Tax Commissioners office led to the inadvertent release Social Security numbers of nearly 20,000 residents. Tax commissioner Matthew Ledbetter said in a letter to those impacted that the information was mistakenly included in a data file downloaded by two outside parties. Both had authorized access…
Category: U.S.
Georgia Tech Human Resources Notifies Employees of Data Breach
Georgia Tech reports: Georgia Tech Human Resources notified employees Thursday morning of a data breach that occurred in Tech’s systems earlier this month. On Dec. 12, a Georgia Tech employee conducted research on a trusted website that had been compromised by a malicious software known as ransomware. The ransomware infiltrated the employee’s computer, which was…
Black market medical record prices drop to under $10, criminals switch to ransomware
Maria Korolov reports: The black market value of stolen medical records dropped dramatically this year, and criminals shifted their efforts from stealing data to spreading ransom ware, according to a report released this morning. Hackers are now offering stolen records at between $1.50 and $10 each, said Anthony James, CMO at San Mateo, Calif.-based security…
FL: Palm Beach sheriff’s deputy arrested in ID theft case
Paula McMahon and Adam Sacasa report: A Palm Beach sheriff’s deputy faces identity theft and fraud charges for abusing his access to a law enforcement database to steal people’s personal information, authorities said Thursday. Another man arrested in the same case told investigators that he agreed to pay Deputy Frantz Felisma $10,000 a month in…
Fairbanks Hospital notifies patients after discovering employees could have been inappropriately accessing patient records for years (UPDATED)
Fairbanks Hospital in Indianapolis is notifying an undisclosed number of patients that employees could have been accessing protected health information of patients since at least November 2013 (and possibly earlier). The information that was accessed included current and former patients’ social security numbers, contact information, diagnosis, treatment and health insurance. In a notification dated December 16, the hospital…
Frederick County Public Schools had brief internal data breach last year
Brandi Bottalico reports that Frederick County Public Schools, currently embroiled in a finger-pointing exercise with the state as to who’s responsible for a recently discovered breach involving former students’ information, had another breach last year. In January 2015, employees’ W-2 statements were viewable by other employees. The breach appeared to be strictly internal and due to human…