A report from Minnesota’s legislative auditor says state officials didn’t do enough to safeguard data in a system used to verify the citizenship of new employees. The state stopped using Texas-based Lookout Services Inc. last December after private data like employee birth dates and Social Security numbers were too easily accessed on the company’s website….
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
TJX Adds Again To Its Breach Cost, But It Doesn’t Really Matter
Evan Schuman writes: With TJX having suffered well more than $47 million in out-of-pocket expenses from its infamous data breach (announced in 2006 but beginning as early as 2003), the $20 billion retailer is preparing to write still more checks. It has now set aside another $23.5 million for additional anticipated breach costs, according to…
Cyberattack on Google Said to Hit Password System
John Markoff reports: Ever since Google disclosed in January that Internet intruders had stolen information from its computers, the exact nature and extent of the theft has been a closely guarded company secret. But a person with direct knowledge of the investigation now says that the losses included one of Google’s crown jewels, a password…
Why I Spoke Publicly About Cyber Incident
Bob Maley writes: If you have been following the blogosphere recently, you may have read that I used to be the chief information security officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, having been dismissed for speaking about security without specific permission. We won’t go into that here, but the incident begs the question if sharing about…
Hancock Breach Reveals New Trend
Linda McGlasson writes: The Hancock Fabrics data breach continues to raise new questions about the security of point of sale (POS) devices at retail stores. In March, the national fabric store chain publicly confirmed the breach it suffered last summer, sending an open letter to its customers, revealing: “PIN pad units at a limited number…
As cloud computing grows, customer frustration mounts
Patrick Thibodeau reports: Users who turned to cloud computing for some of its obvious benefits, such as the ability to rapidly expand and provision systems, are starting to shift their focus to finding ways to fix some early weaknesses. Cloud computing today has some of the characteristics of a Wild West boom town, but its…