Alexander Rich reports: An online scammer made off with 45 Social Security numbers after sending a virus to a computer at the Department of Human Services office in Coos Bay last week. The virus arrived in the form of a bogus e-mail with a link on it Jan. 23. When an employee clicked on the…
Category: Government Sector
Third US gov’t worker pleads to passport snooping
Grant Gross reports: A third U.S. State Department employee has pleaded guilty to illegally accessing dozens of confidential passport application files, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Gerald Lueders, 65, of Woodbridge, Virginia, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a one-count criminal information charging him with unauthorized computer…
TX: Personal data of about 500 Beaumont workers online
The AP is reporting that the personal information of about 500 current and former Beaumont city workers was accidentally posted online on the city’s web site on January 14. The information, which included dates of birth and social security numbers, was removed the following morning. The notification letter reportedly says that the incident happened as…
VA agrees to settle data theft lawsuit
The Associated Press is reporting: The Veterans Affairs Department has agreed to pay up to $20 million to veterans for exposing them to possible identity theft in 2006 after losing their sensitive personal information. In court filings Tuesday, lawyers for the VA and the veterans said they had reached agreement to settle the veterans’ lawsuit…
U.S. Consulate Mistakenly Sells Secret Files in Jerusalem
Hundreds of files — with social security numbers, bank account numbers and other sensitive U.S. government information — were found in a filing cabinet purchased from the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem through a local auction. […] The files contained social security numbers of U.S. Marines and State Department employees stationed in Israel, and documentation of…
UK: Police officer denies data breach
A police officer has appeared in court charged with “recklessly obtaining information” from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary files about a woman – 96 times. Paul Meseg, aged 50, entered a not guilty plea when he appeared before magistrates in Plymouth yesterday. It is alleged that, while working in Tiverton and at stations in East Devon,…