Mathew J. Schwartz reports: LulzSec Hacker “Topiary” famously tweeted: “You cannot arrest an idea.” Perhaps not, but in the case of Topiary, revealed to be Jake Davis, now 20, you can be sentenced to 24 months in a “young offenders institute” for two counts of conspiracy to impair the operation of a computer, to be followed…
Category: Government Sector
Senators Tester, Baucus: EPA’s release of personal information “unacceptable”
Montana Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus are demanding that the EPA take immediate action to better protect the personal information of Montana ranchers after the agency accidentally released livestock producers’ names, addresses, and telephone numbers – not once, but twice. In response to a public information request, the EPA mistakenly distributed the personal information…
$200,000 suggested for SCDOR hacking compensation fund
Andrew Shain reports: South Carolina should set aside $200,000 next year for a fund to compensate victims of the massive computer hacking at the S.C. Department of Revenue, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen and state Treasurer Curtis Loftis proposed Tuesday. The fund would be administered like the state’s unclaimed property operation, headed by the treasurer’s office….
Washington state Administrative Office of the Courts hack due to unpatched ColdFusion vulnerability
Rachel La Corte has more on the hack reported earlier today on this blog: The breach happened due to vulnerability in an Adobe Systems Inc. software program, ColdFusion, that has since been patched, court officials said. The hack happened sometime after September but wasn’t caught until February, they said. […] Mike Keeling, the courts’ information…
160,000 Social Security numbers and 1 million driver license numbers exposed in hack of WA Administrative Office of the Courts
Rachel La Corte reports: The Washington state Administrative Office of the Courts was hacked in February, and up to 160,000 Social Security numbers and 1 million driver license numbers may have been accessed during the data breach of its public website. Officials with the courts announced Thursday that so far, it has been confirmed that…
Internet Installer Sentenced for Hijacking Customer’s Internet to Perpetrate Identity Theft Tax Scheme
Corey Thompson was sentenced yesterday to serve 30 months in prison for his involvement in a stolen identity tax refund fraud conspiracy, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. In July 2012, Thompson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to file false claims and to one count of aggravated identity theft….