And yet more police departments pay ransom to unlock their systems. WCSH in Maine reports: Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett said four towns and the county have a special computer network to share files and records. Someone accidentally downloaded a virus, called “megacode”, that put an encryption code on all the computer data. The Sheriff…
Category: Government Sector
TX: Denton County Health Department Alerts TB Clinic Patients to Breach
From the Denton County Health Department: HIPAA Security Breach Notification April 10, 2015 On February 13, 2015, a Denton County Health Department employee temporarily left a USB drive at a local printing store in order to print a personal document from the device. Unfortunately, that USB drive included 874 unsecured data files of tuberculosis (TB)…
Mississippi woman sentenced to prison for 10 years for stolen identity tax refund fraud scheme
Well, she was originally scheduled to be sentenced almost one year ago, but now Marietta Harris has been sentenced, it seems, and sentenced to the maximum prison term available under the guidelines. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi issued a press release today: Marietta Harris, 39, of Jackson, was sentenced on…
FL: Fraudulent tax returns used PII obtained from Texas
These fraudsters allegedly used information obtained from the Texas Dept. of Public Safety, but the press release gives no clue as to how they obtained it. United States v. John Mackenley Cesar, et. al, Case No. 15-60071-CR-Zloch On April 2, 2015, John Mackenley Cesar, 26, of Miami, Chedlor Dorilus, 22, of Hollywood, Lawrence Bernadel (“Bernadel”), 22, of Tallahassee, Ariel Ronet Walker,…
FL: Another prosecution of fraudsters using student information for tax refund fraud scheme
Another criminal prosecution announced today involved tax refund fraud using information from Miami-Dade Public School students: United States v. Luis Daniel Lopez Morales and Rigo Octavio Lopez, Case No. 15-2428-MJ-Goodman On April 1, 2015, Luis Daniel Lopez Morales, 19, and Rigo Octavio Lopez, 25, both of North Miami, were charged by criminal complaint for their participation in a…
NLRB hits Postal Service over response to cyber breach
Josh Hicks reports: The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint calling on the U.S. Postal Service to negotiate with employee groups over how quickly to tell personnel about cyber attacks that affect their personal data. The March 31 action came in response to allegations that the agency violated federal labor law by not…