Peter C. Mastrosimone reports: A computer disc containing detailed personal information about 969 New Yorkers was lost by a Social Security Administration employee traveling to Queens from the Bronx back in late October. Three months later, on Jan. 22, the agency sent out letters to those people, explaining the situation and assuring them that officials…
Category: Government Sector
NY: Hacker stole $378,000 from town account, sent it to Ukraine
Michael Valkys reports: A computer hacker broke into a Town of Poughkeepsie bank account and stole $378,000 by transferring the money to banks in Ukraine, Supervisor Patricia Myers said Wednesday. Ending two weeks of silence about the incident, Myers read a statement before the Town Board’s meeting at Town Hall. She said four illegal transfers…
Wigan Council loses the data of 200 disabled residents
A Greater Manchester council has lost details of 200 disabled residents – a year after a previous security blunder. Wigan Council believes a memory stick containing hundreds of confidential details fell out of an employee’s pocket in January…. Town hall chiefs have suspended one member of staff and disciplined another in relation to the latest…
Dutch Dept. of Public Works leaks subscribers’ data
Karin Spaink summarizes, in English, a breach reported on Webwereld on January 27: The Dpt of Public Works (Rijkswaterstaat) installed a new profile system on their web site that subscribers to their newsletter had to use. When logging in to the system, subscribers were presented with the personal data of the previous visitor. The leaked…
Data breach: Trail points to China in Iowa computer hack
William Petroski reports: Iowa investigators suspect a serious breach of a state government computer database last week originated in China, which a congressional panel says has increased its use of cyber espionage tactics. The hackers gained access to a computer system operated by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. The breach allowed access to personal…
Iowa racetrack and casino employee data on hacked server
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission said Friday that its database containing licensing information of racetrack and casino employees had been compromised after a firewall was breached by an outside Internet address. A news release issued by the commission said that the breach took place Tuesday when one of the firewalls “was circumvented due to…