Hilton Collins reports: If you’re bummed about the data in your department that just got breached, you have some cold comfort. Although the combined number of reported data breaches in the government and the military has dropped in 2009 compared to last year, many more records were compromised in those breaches, according to recent figures…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
NZ: Civil service warned: do more to protect privacy
Kara Segedin reports: Privacy commissioner Marie Shroff released her report for the year ending June 30, 2009 showing critical failings in government departments’ handling of information. […] There were 806 privacy complaints this year, up 22 per cent from last year. “I have given the public sector a wake-up call to better protect privacy, in…
ICO publishes guide to Data Protection Act
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has produced a new plain English Guide to Data Protection to provide businesses and organizations with practical advice about the Data Protection Act and dispel myths. The guide will help organizations safeguard personal data and comply with the law. The guide takes a straight-forward look at the principles of the…
Victorian Auditor-General slams public sector privacy
Tim Lohman reports: The confidentiality of personal information collected and used by the public sector can be, and has been, easily compromised, a Victorian Auditor-General report has found. The Maintaining the Integrity and Confidentiality of Personal Information report, which examined information security in three Victorian government departments, found that the ability to penetrate databases, the…
AU: Private files at risk of exposure
Rick Wallace reports: The Victorian government has failed to protect its citizens’ private data, even within its highest echelons, and its computer systems remain vulnerable to attacks from hackers and data thieves. An audit of the government’s handling of personal and private information has unveiled problems in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Treasury and…
The Year Of The Mega Data Breach
Andy Greenberg reports: Glance at 2009’s data breach statistics, and you might think the IT world had scored a rare win in the endless struggle against cybercrime. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, government agencies and businesses reported 435 breaches as of Nov. 17, on track to show a 50% drop from the number…