Ashley Southall reports: Federal workers at the General Services Administration are on alert against identity theft after an employee sent the names and Social Security numbers of the agency’s entire staff to a private e-mail address.The agency, which manages federal property, employs more than 12,000 people. Officials apologized to employees for the incident in a letter dated…
Category: Government Sector
State Department official admits looking at passport files for more than 500 celebrities
Nedra Pickler of The Associated Press reports: A passport specialist curious about celebrities has admitted she looked into the confidential files of more than 500 famous Americans without authorization. Brooke Reyna pleaded guilty in federal court in Conord, N.H., to lying to investigators when confronted. The files contain photos and personal information and are protected by…
JP: EDITORIAL: Leak of terrorism data
Well, I didn’t post a security breach from Japan the other day because the news report I read suggest that no PII were involved. But an editorial today on Asahi.com indicates that PII were involved — and perhaps dangerously so: As Japan prepares to receive foreign government leaders who will gather in Yokohama for…
Everywhere I look, there’s more I didn’t know about
I was reading some local coverage about recent card fraud in Macon, Georgia when I realized that one of the previous breach incidents they were describing didn’t seem familiar: The recent cases in downtown Macon come on the heels of about 50 employees at Robins Air Force Base having their accounts hacked in August after…
Hacker may have accessed database of Louisiana EMTs
Marsha Shuler reports: Some 56,000 emergency medical technicians were advised this week that a hacker may have gained access to personal information about them contained in a state licensing database. The state Department of Health and Hospitals sent letters to the emergency medical technicians, notifying them of the incident that occurred Sept. 17. […] Department…
Audit: Province and U of Calgary must do better job
Jamie Komarnicki reports: The provincial government and the University of Calgary must do a better job of protecting against unauthorized access to confidential online information, warns Alberta’s auditor general. Service Alberta and the U of C each came under fire in Merwan Saher’s latest report, released Tuesday, for not demonstrating they’ve implemented adequate security policies,…