Rob O’Neill reports: Thousands of Inland Revenue files were locked up after New Zealand’s tax department became the target of a cryptolocking attack in November. IRD said that in addition to the phishing emails targeting customers, the department also regularly receives phishing emails attempting to obtain money or information or to compromise the Inland Revenue…
Category: Government Sector
Parking Officer, City Employee Involved In Privacy Breach: Molloy
The province’s Privacy Commissioner has made a number of recommendations in light of a recent case involving a parking enforcement officer who was assaulted while on duty in December of 2017. Commissioner Donovan Molloy’s report says while the matter was reported to the RNC and the man’s superiors, he took matters a step further and…
Sensitive info may be compromised after City of Houston employee’s laptop stolen
KHOU reports: Information about City of Houston employees’ health insurance may have been compromised after an employee’s laptop computer was stolen. City officials say the laptop was stolen from the employee’s car on Feb. 2. They say the password-protected computer may have contained city employees’ records, including names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers…
SamSam ransomware infects Colorado Department of Transportation
Luana Pascu reports: SamSam ransomware is back and the Colorado Department of Transportation is its most recent victim. More than 2,000 agency computers had to be shut down on Feb 21 to prevent the ransomware from spreading across the entire infrastructure. According to CBS local news, the critical systems used to manage road traffic and…
UK: Former council worker fined for sharing personal information about schoolchildren and parents via Snapchat
From the what-the-HELL-were-they-thinking department: A former local authority education worker who illegally shared personal information about schoolchildren and their parents has been prosecuted. Samira Bouzkraoui, 24, took a screenshot of a council spreadsheet concerning children and their eligibility for free school meals before sending it to the estranged parent of one of the pupils via…
AU: City of Ballarat privacy nightmare: resident details posted online
Ashleigh McMillan reports: More than 70 Ballarat residents have had their home addresses – and in some cases phone numbers and email addresses – leaked by City of Ballarat. […] The list included the personal details of a number of eminent Ballarat personalities and those with sensitive professions, including lawyers, doctors, business owners and police…