WTXL reports that five people have been indicted in a tax refund fraud scheme that included two employees misusing their access to databases. One of those indicted, Katrina Pratt, had been an administrative assistant in human resources at Florida A & M University (FAMU), and allegedly used the identities of 40 students there as part…
Category: Government Sector
Top official fired for records security breach at St. Louis Recorder of Deeds office
Adam McDonald reports: A top official in the St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Office has been fired for a vital records security breach of about 19,000 unauthorized copies of death certificates. The acting Recorder of Deeds, Jennifer Florida, says Preggy Meeker, the alleged suspect, allowed employees to log into Missouri’s vital records system by using…
AU: Government agency leaks customer details without telling
Beau Donelly reports: A government authority has leaked the billing and contact details of Victorians online, but decided against telling affected customers even though the privacy breach posed a “medium to high” level threat. The undisclosed state authority responsible for the breach notified Privacy Victoria about problems affecting its online payment system after discovering the…
OH: Ex-Hocking County police chief pleads guilty to misusing crime data system
Mary Beth Lane reported this a few weeks ago: A former Laurelville police chief pleaded guilty yesterday in Hocking County Common Pleas Court to unauthorized use of property. James E. Taylor admitted that he misused the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway to obtain information on people for purposes unrelated to law enforcement. The online secure network…
Failure to patch Oracle leaves students and kids at risk of info theft
Jake Tapper reports that some organizations still haven’t patched Oracle, leaving sensitive information at risk of hacking: This month, [researchers] found that a weakness in Oracle’s software – that the company discovered in 2012 and provided a patch for – still remains a huge vulnerability to any customer that missed or ignored that news. Seely…
Hacker claims to have infiltrated Chester, NY website as well as Pakistani & Ukrainian govt sites
Nathan Mayberg reports: What does the town of Chester have in common with the Pakistan Ministry of Commerce and the Ukranian government? Their websites were all allegedly hacked by someone claiming to be associated with the international hacking group Anynomous. Last week, a hacker with the Twitter tag @anonymousglobo posted links to what is allegedly…