Kelly Fiveash reports from the U.K.: The Department for Education broke the Data Protection Act after it exposed the email addresses, unencrypted passwords and sensitive answers of members of the public who filled in an online form about parental controls on the net, The Register can reveal. However – despite the breach – the Information Commissioner’s Office…
Category: Government Sector
NZ: Ministry of Justice shuts down kiosks
In the aftermath of the WINZ breach, the NZ government has been reviewing all its systems. In the process, they discovered that the Ministry of Justice kiosks had a similar issue as the MSD Work and Income kiosks. The New Zealand Herald reports: The affected kiosks included three computers at the ministry’s national office, which…
Australia Post in online privacy breach (updated)
Natasha Bita reports: Another Australia Post computer glitch has exposed the names and locations of thousands of Australians who have been sent parcels. Australia Post was forced to shut down its electronic parcel tracking service yesterday, after an angry customer blew the whistle on the privacy and security breach. Customers who typed a random number…
UK: Greater Manchester Police force pays £120,000 penalty following data breach last year
From the Information Commissioner’s Office: An ICO investigation into a data breach at Greater Manchester Police has concluded with the force being fined for failing to take appropriate measures against the loss of personal data. The action was prompted by the theft of a memory stick containing sensitive personal data from an officer’s home. The…
NZ: Personal info on children, beneficiaries and contractors of Ministry of Social Development found on kiosk computers (UPDATE4)
Radio New Zealand reports what appears to be a data leak that may have started two years ago: Information about children in the care of Child Youth Family, beneficiaries and contractors employed by the Ministry of Social Development has been freely accessible through public computer kiosks at Work Income offices. Freelance journalist and blogger Keith Ng…
More than $400,000 stolen from Burlington, Washington city bank account; other accounts compromised (update 1)
Lynsi Burton reports that Burlington, Washington lost $400,000 to hackers who transferred city funds over a two-day period to various accounts around the country. City workers were also notified that their direct deposit bank account information was compromised and that they should cancel or red flag their accounts. The city’s bank account with Bank of…