Justin Penrose reports: A jailed hacker shut down a prison’s entire computer system – after bosses gave him the job of programming it. Douglas Havard, 27, serving six years for stealing up to £6.5million using forged credit cards over the internet, was approached after governors wanted to create an internal TV station but needed a…
Category: Government Sector
Personal details of up to 3,500 people were on stolen Blackburn council computers
Seen on ThisIsLancashire.co.uk: The personal data of as many as 3,500 people was lost when 15 council computers were stolen, an official report has revealed. The laptops, used by social workers, were stolen from Jubilee House in Blackburn in June. Now the Information Commissioner will now carry out his own investigation as the theft meant…
Department Of Defense Putting Data At Risk
J. Nicholas Hoover reports: The Department of Defense risks exposing personally identifiable information and other sensitive data because it isn’t consistently following proper procedures in preparing computer< equipment for disposal or reuse, the military's inspector general has found. In an evaluation of DoD internal controls and processes, the inspector general found that several military departments...
VT: City posts taxpayer info online
Stephanie M. Peters reports: A file containing bank account information for 314 city residents [Rutland, Vermont] who participate in the city’s direct debit tax payment program was inadvertently uploaded to the city’s Web site for a seven-day period earlier this month. Those affected were notified by the Treasurer’s Office late last week. […] Statistics for…
Public disclosure disclosed a bit too much
Over on Sound Politics, Mark Griswold writes: While perusing the PDC’s website this morning I came across a major security breach. For obvious reasons I’m not going to post the information I have and like a good citizen I’ve reported it to the PDC. In short though, I am now in possession of the names,…
NM: Sensitive Files Found In Dumpster
An Albuquerque, New Mexico Housing Authority official expressed dismay over reports that over 100 files containing sensitive personal information on former tenants had been found intact in a dumpster behind an apartment complex. The files appear to date back to the late 90s and early 2000. Now the Housing Authority is concerned that the bulk…