John Siddle reports: A Merseyside PC accused of snooping on the force’s computer systems is to stand trial. PC Paula Humphreys, 43, was suspended from duty after being charged in May with Data Protection Act offences. Humphreys, of Glentrees Road, West Derby, is accused of “knowingly or recklessly” obtaining personal data on four occasions. Read more…
Category: Government Sector
AFGE files Class Action Lawsuit against OPM Officials over Data Breach
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has filed a class action complaint with a demand for jury trial against the Office of Personnel Management, Director Katherine Archuleta and Chief Information Officer Donna Seymour about one of the most devastating cyberattacks in U.S. history that resulted in potentially 18 million current and former federal employees’ personal and security files being compromised….
OPM Temporarily Shuts Down Personnel Information Database as Protective Step
AP reports: The federal personnel agency whose records were plundered by hackers linked to China announced on Monday the temporary shutdown of a massive database used to update and store background investigation records after newly discovering a flaw that left the system vulnerable to additional breaches. There is no evidence the vulnerability has been exploited…
Ca: Cop loses 3 days pay after breaching privacy rules
Corey Larocque reports: Snooping through confidential police records and relating their contents to a friend will cost Ottawa Police Const. Jennifer Finniss three days’ pay and force her to stay home for 20 days. Even though her motivation was to help a friend, Finniss, an 18-year veteran cop, “should have known better” than to make…
UK: Norfolk County Council sells filing cabinet with confidential information still inside
Dan Grimmer reports: New figures have revealed the number of data breaches at local authorities in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire over the past year, with more than 200 incidents where information councils are entrusted with was not handled properly. One of the most shocking blunders came in Norfolk where confidential files containing details of adults…
VA: Twin computer prodigies plead guilty to schemes to hack State Dept., others
Justin Jouvenal has an update on a case previously reported on this site in May: Twin brothers from Springfield have pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria to a series of computer hacking schemes that involved stealing credit card information, breaking into State Department computers and obtaining data from a private company. Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter,…