Jennifer Williams reports: Scores of confidential social services files containing highly personal details about the lives of vulnerable young people – including abuse survivors – have been found abandoned in an empty Tameside office. The extraordinary data breach was discovered by the building’s landlord after drug service contractor Change, Grow, Live (CGL) left a fortnight…
Category: Government Sector
ICE lawyer in Seattle charged with stealing immigrants’ identities
AP reports: The chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle has been charged with stealing immigrants’ identities. Raphael A. Sanchez, who resigned from the agency effective Monday, faces one count of aggravated identity theft and another of wire fraud in a charging document filed Monday in U.S. District Court. Prosecutors with the…
Data breach at MassTaxConnect exposed businesses’ info
Joshua Miller reports: A data mix-up on a state tax portal inadvertently made private data from about 16,500 business taxpayers viewable to other companies, potentially even competitors. The breach lasted from Aug. 7, 2017, through Jan. 23, 2018, and allowed some companies to view other business’s names, federal employer identification numbers, tax payments, and other…
Idaho Transportation Department email hack may have exposed truckers’ private information
EIN reports: A hack of two email accounts at the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) potentially exposed the personal information of commercial truckers whose rigs are registered in Idaho, including Social Security and credit card numbers. State Information Security Director Jeff Weak said ITD’s Division of Motor Vehicles has identified and notified about 140 individuals and…
Scottish National Party hit out after investigation reveals data security breaches in Whitehall
Kieran Andrews reports: Lost confidential papers, leaked email addresses and the release of sensitive personal information were just some of the 4000 “data security incidences” recorded by the UK Government recorded last year. Data uncovered by the SNP has revealed that in one case an assault victim’s new name and address was inadvertently sent to…
California DMV worker used driver’s license records to steal identities, federal government says
Sam Stanton reports: A worker at California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, which is the subject on an ongoing federal bribery probe into the misuse of department computer files, has been accused of using driver’s license records in an elaborate mail and identity theft case. Sarah Laray Sandoval, 39, was a DMV employee with access to…