ABS-CBN reports: The National Privacy Commission (NPC) is looking into “gaps” in the interface of the government’s Freedom of Information website that may have caused the leak of data on users who requested documents from the website, one of the agency’s commissioners said Saturday. Columnist Wilson Chua earlier said the ID he used on government…
Category: Government Sector
FEMA exposed personal information of 2.3 million disaster victims
Caroline Linton reports: FEMA mistakenly exposed personal information, including addresses and bank account information, of 2.3 million disaster victims, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General said in a report released Friday. The breach occurred because FEMA did not ensure a private contractor only received information it required to perform its official duties, the report said….
HIV data leak: Mikhy Farrera Brochez pleads not guilty in US court
Chris Kenning reports the latest development in a case this site has been following since January (search “Brochez” for other coverage). Mikhy Farrera Brochez on Tuesday (Mar 19) pleaded not guilty in a US federal court in Kentucky to charges related to stolen identification documents from Singapore’s HIV registry, according to his lawyer Jay Oakley. The American, who is…
NC: Hackers demand ransom from Orange County for 3rd time in 6 years
Holden Kurwicki reports: A local county is being held hostage by hackers who could have access to your private information at their fingertips. The Orange County IT Department is working hand in hand with outside agencies to hunt down hackers who have invaded county computer servers with ransomware. [..] “We have public computers at the…
Bitcoin Ransomware Cripples Boston Legal System for Two Weeks
P. H. Madore reports: Boston public defenders suffered a ransomware attack some weeks back but have chosen not to send the bitcoin demanded by the attacker. Instead, they decided to use back-ups to restore services. The Committee oversees public defenders in Boston. According to the Boston Globe, that decision has meant a “weekslong slowdown” that…
Privacy breach leads to embarassing award for Nova Scotia
As a follow-up to a Nova Scotia privacy breach previously noted on this site, The Chronicle Herald has an update with a government and police smackdown by EFF. Aaron Beswick explains: The Nova Scotia government received a cyber-security award this week. But it wasn’t a good one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online non-profit group…