Robert Verkaik reports: Police officers found to have illegally disclosed information from confidential databases have been named in a dossier handed to ministers. The report, compiled by the information watchdog, shows how personal information from private and public bodies is being used to commit more serious crimes. In one case, a pensioner died after a…
Category: Government Sector
NZ: Skim versus hack: Council still in the dark
Rob O’Neill reports: Auckland City is referring all enquiries about how its carparking systems were compromised, leading to the reissue of thousands of credit cards, to Westpac, which is leading the investigation into the incident. Spokesman Glyn Jones says the council “hasn’t been told conclusively” whether skimming or hacking were used to breach customer security….
Update: Second B.C. employee fired in document security breach
Rob Shaw and Lindsay Kines report: The B.C. government has fired a second employee in connection with a security breach in which the files of 1,400 income assistance clients turned up in a government worker’s home. Citizens’ Services Minister Ben Stewart confirmed today that the second employee was “involved with” the Public Service Agency within…
Ca: Province waited 7 months to notify public of sensitive security breach
Rob Shaw and Lindsay Kines report: The British Columbia government knew seven months ago about a serious security breach involving sensitive personal information from 1,400 income-assistance clients, yet only notified the affected people last week, the Victoria Times Colonist has learned. RCMP officers found the missing documents inside the Victoria home of a government worker…
GAO: DoD loses track of 72,000 combat records
Judi Hasson reports: There are so many data breaches throughout government these days that it’s getting tiresome. The question is why do they keep happening? Last week, the Government Accountability Office disclosed another one–this time from the Defense Department. The GAO revealed that DoD could not account for more than 72,000 health questionnaires that were…
SC: Social Security, county bank account numbers accidentally made public
Copies of a report into past Anderson County finances, released to the public last week, contained Social Security numbers for two people, business tax identification numbers for two companies and three active county bank account numbers. The nearly 1,000-page report is still available for viewing at the historic courthouse in downtown Anderson but the sensitive…