Although identity theft is a significant public concern, a new audit report by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General indicates that it has become less of a priority instead of more of one over the past few years. Noting that the President’s Identity Theft Task Force (created in May 2006 by…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Federal Information Security and Data Breach Notification Laws
From Congressional Research Service: Federal Information Security and Data Breach Notification Laws Gina Stevens Legislative Attorney January 28, 2010 The following report describes information security and data breach notification requirements included in the Privacy Act, the Federal Information Security Management Act, Office of Management and Budget Guidance, the Veterans Affairs Information Security Act, the Health…
GAO Report: Information Security: Concerted Response Needed to Resolve Persistent Weaknesses
The summary of GAO-10-536T report, Information Security: Concerted Response Needed to Resolve Persistent Weaknesses, March 24, 2010: Without proper safeguards, federal computer systems are vulnerable to intrusions by individuals who have malicious intentions and can obtain sensitive information. The need for a vigilant approach to information security has been demonstrated by the pervasive and sustained…
Your health, tax, and search data siphoned
Dan Goodin reports: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft’s Bing, and other leading websites are leaking medical histories, family income, search queries, and massive amounts of other sensitive data that can be intercepted even when encrypted, computer scientists revealed in a new research paper. Researchers from Indiana University and Microsoft itself were able to infer the sensitive data…
Recommended: Gonzalez Lawyers, Judges Debate Data Breach Costs
Evan Schuman writes: When two Boston-based federal judges sentence Albert Gonzalez Thursday (March 25) and Friday (March 26) for a rash of retail cyber-break-ins that he confessed to orchestrating, the exact sentence may be academic. The key legal argument is shaping up to be this question: “When a retailer is breached, what’s the most reasonable…
Western Australia’s Auditor General Finds Serious Weaknesses in Government Agencies’ Handling of Information
In his annual report on Information System Management in state government agencies, the Auditor General for Western Australia has identified serious weaknesses in the way many agencies manage their IT systems. The two-part Information Systems Audit Report, tabled in Parliament, found that government agencies were often failing to implement comprehensive controls over their IT systems…