J. Nicholas Hoover reports: The Navy received a report earlier this year of what appeared to be a serious cyber attack. The breach turned out to be less damaging than feared, but the incident served as a reminder that external storage drives shouldn’t be overlooked as a security risk, even though USB thumb devices got…
Category: Government Sector
OR: State mistake puts personal data at risk
Alan Gustafson reports: Sloppy handling of confidential records by a state agency in Salem left people’s names, Social Security numbers, ages and addresses exposed in an open recycling bin outdoors. The blunder by the Housing and Community Services agency put low-income, elderly and disabled residents at risk of becoming targets of identity theft or other…
Stolen laptop held birth data on all Belizeans
I supposed it was inevitable. A country’s entire population has had their birth certificate information stolen — and yes, because a laptop was left in an employee’s car. Channel 5 in Belize reports: Police are investigating the theft of a laptop that they fear could result in cases of identity theft. That’s because the stolen…
NH: Mayor’s e-mail used for 650,000 messages
Manchester – An estimated 650,000 of Mayor Frank Guinta’s closest friends received messages sent from his city e-mail account Wednesday night and early Thanksgiving Day. Well, maybe not his friends. Someone hacked the mayor’s City Hall account and used it to send the 650,000 messages. Guinta yesterday said he found out about the messaging on…
UK: Officers who passed on data details are named
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…
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….