Gregory Childress reports that a data breach had significant consequences for a researcher. Because I don’t recall ever seeing such consequences before, I think this is pretty newsworthy: A UNC cancer researcher is fighting a demotion and pay cut she received after a security breach in the medical study she directs. Bonnie Yankaskas, a professor in…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
ICO: data crooks should face jail
… Responding to a Ministry of Justice call for evidence on the current data protection legislative framework, the privacy watchdog said that the greatest threat to information security in organisations is individuals. But it said the Data Protection Act “only provides for a fine for those individuals who knowingly or recklessly obtain or disclose personal…
UK card fraud losses at 10 year low
Pleasantly surprising good news from the UK: Fraud losses on UK cards fell to their lowest levels for 10 years in the first half of 2010, while online banking also saw a decrease in the amount lost for the first since 2007. According to the UK Cards Association, total fraud losses on UK cards was…
Canadian Privacy Commissioner troubled by poor computer disposal practices and lack of controls for wireless devices in government
The federal government’s use of handheld communications devices and its practices for disposing of unneeded paper documents and surplus computers could expose the personal information of Canadians to unauthorized disclosure, Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart has warned. The findings, stemming from two separate privacy audits conducted by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of…
Education sector most affected by malware
Angela Moscaritolo reports: During the first six months of 2010, academia was the sector most impacted by malware, according to a report issued Monday by anti-virus firm Trend Micro. The report, which covers cybercrime incidents from January to June, states that 44 percent of all malware infections hit schools and universities, which often have “complex, distributed…
Verizon PCI DSS Compliance Study: breached entities 50% less likely to be compliant
A new report from Verizon Business shows that following industry security standards can dramatically reduce such incidents. In a first-of-its-kind “Verizon Payment Card Industry Compliance Report,” the company examined compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which was created in 2006 to protect cardholder data and reduce credit card fraud. Company…