“It’s déjà vu all over again” — noted infosecurity expert Yogi Berra. Veronico Niko, a former Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services employee, has pleaded guilty to stealing names and Social Security numbers for use in a tax refund fraud scheme. Niko, her husband Thomas Marshall, Michael Williams, Mao Niko, and Mike Niko…
Category: Government Sector
Minnesota resident sues state agency and employee over breach involving driver’s license database
A Minnesota resident, Jeffrey Ness, has filed a potential class action lawsuit against the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Department of Public Safety after a DNR employee exceeded authorized access and accessed about 5,000 residents’ driver’s license information. The employee was terminated but the motive for the improper access was not disclosed. In the lawsuit filed…
More details emerge on DoDDS-EU breach
A previously reported breach that affected students at the Ramstein Intermediate School also affected students and sponsors at three other schools under the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity– Europe (DoDDS-Europe). Until now, I didn’t know which other schools were involved, until a small item on Military.com provided their names. On January 7, DoDDS-Europe issued the…
Stolen Florida Dept. of Juvenile Justice device contained records of more than 100,000 youth and employees
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice says it “strives to increase public safety by reducing juvenile delinquency, strengthening families and turning around the lives of troubled youth.” Creating more trouble for youth and their families is obviously not part of their mission, yet that’s what may have happened. From a press release they issued yesterday:…
Move over SCDOR. Make room for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada seems to be vying for a spot on the wall of shame. Last month, they disclosed that an employee had lost an unencrypted USB drive with 5,000 Canadians’ social insurance numbers, medical records, and other information. Even normally mild-mannered and polite Canadians got upset over that one. Now today, when…
On the wall of shame, SCDOR’s breach should rank embarrassingly high
Embarrassing reminders about the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) breach continue. The Associated Press reports on testimony in yesterday’s hearing by the state’s House oversight panel: Revenue has been criticized for not using the state information technology division’s computer monitoring services — which are offered but not required — before the hacking. While the…