So often reports to the public fail to properly redact personal information. Here’s a case out of New Zealand: Fire chiefs have been forced to issue a shame-faced apology after releasing private, personal information in reports into last year’s Port Hills fires. Almost a year since the massive fires on Canterbury’s Port Hills above Christchurch,…
Category: Government Sector
Harris County tightens security after almost losing $900K in phishing attack
Mihir Zaveri reports: On Sept. 21, not three weeks after Houston was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey, the Harris County auditor’s office received an email from someone named Fiona Chambers who presented herself as an accountant with D&W Contractors, Inc. The contractor was repairing a Harvey-damaged parking lot, cleaning up debris and building a road for…
Senate IT Tells Staffers They’re On Their Own When It Comes To Personal Devices And State-Sponsored Hackers
Tim Cushing reports: Notification of state-sponsored hacking attempts has revealed another weak spot in the US government’s defenses. The security of the government’s systems is an ongoing concern, but the Senate has revealed it’s not doing much to ensure sensitive documents and communications don’t end up in the hands of foreign hackers. Read more on…
UK: Former civil servant suing government department after ‘highly sensitive’ medical information reportedly revealed in email
Neal Keeling reports: A former civil servant is suing the government department where he worked after ‘highly sensitive’ medical information about him was reportedly revealed to a dozen colleagues in an email. Lawyers for Aftab Marchant have issued High Court proceedings against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and are seeking damages of up…
Former employee of Veterans Affairs indicted for attempted sale of personal info of veterans and employees
LITTLE ROCK—Cody Hiland, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging Phillip Hill, 32, of Benton, a former Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) database manager, with attempting to sell the personal information of veterans and VA employees. The indictment, returned by a grand jury in the…
Kansas website exposed state employees’ personal information: report
It was only a few days ago that there were reports that Florida had exposed the last 4 digits of almost 1,000 Kansas residents’ Social Security Numbers. Not to be outdone, Kansas posted its own citizens SSN, too, it seems. As Brett Samuels reports: The Kansas Secretary of State’s office on Thursday posted the personal…