Spencer S. Hsu reports: A former Energy Department employee was sentenced to 18 months in prison after offering to help a foreign government infiltrate the agency’s computer system to steal nuclear secrets and then attempting an email “spear-phishing” attack in an FBI sting operation. Charles Harvey Eccleston, an environmental scientist formerly employed by the department…
Category: Insider
Lessons from the Olympus Mortgage vs. Guaranteed Rate Case
Craig Nazarro of Baker Donelson writes about an insider breach case previously covered on this blog: Late last month a jury awarded Mount Olympus Mortgage Company (MOMC) more than $25 million for their claims against Guaranteed Rate (Guaranteed), which alleged Guaranteed along with other former employees of MOMC illegally transferred hundreds of loan files from…
‘Inadvertent’ cyber breach hits 44,000 FDIC customers
Joe Davidson reports: In yet another example of fragile security in federal cyber systems, data for 44,000 Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. customers was breached by an employee leaving the agency. The breach occurred in February and was outlined in an internal FDIC memorandum obtained by The Washington Post. The March 18 memo from Lawrence Gross Jr.,…
UK: Former New Addington police sergeant and ex-council officer charged with misusing police records
Tom Matthews reports: A former police sergeant and an ex-Croydon Council officer have been charged with breaching data protection laws after allegations they misused police computer systems to obtain private information. Paul Potter and Alan O’Brien were due to answer the charges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, but though the case against them was adjourned…
CN: Info of 200,000 babies leaked, causes panic among parents
Li Ruohan reports: Personal information of over 200,000 children in Jinan, East China’s Shandong Province, including the cellphone number and home address of their parents have been leaked, triggering widespread concerns on the possible consequences if criminals get hold of the data. The data was offered for 32,000 yuan ($4,900) from hospitals where the children…
Barrie police chief says investigation ongoing after officer accesses cell block video
For your file on “small breaches with big impact:” Barrie police Special Const. Ralph Hillyard was fired last week for what Greenwood calls “misconduct and unacceptable behaviour,” one day after Ontario court justice William Gorewich rebuked the officer for accessing restricted cell block video of a woman in custody that captured her using the toilet….