Noah Buhayar of Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports another insurance company has suffered a breach: Oak River Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (A), asked clients to guard against identity theft after an employee released some of their personal information. The data are tied to about 2,700 workers’ compensation claimants who had spinal surgery…
Category: Insider
Delayed breach notification letter from law firm raises more questions than it answers (updated)
Here’s another notification letter submitted to the California Attorney General’s Office that left me scratching my head. It’s from the law firm of Sprechman & Associates, P.A. in Miami, a firm that specializes in collections. My comments and questions are inserted in italics: Dear XXXXXX: I am writing to advise you that your personally identifiable information…
Couple Stole the Identities of Doctors Who Applied for Fellowships at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Patients at Highlandtown Community Health Center
Another scheme involving insider breaches comes to light in Baltimore. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland reports: Ringleader Derrick Hill, age 52, and his girlfriend Renee Cabell, age 51, both of Woodlawn, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to their plea agreements, from August to October, 2009,…
China’s Yihaodian vows more user privacy protection
Sarah Reeve writes: Yihaodian.com, a Chinese online grocery store controlled by US retailing giant Wal-Mart, has vowed to protect users’ privacy after some of its employees have been accused of selling user information, Global Times reported. The website reported the case to the police and upgraded its website system after it found its user information…
HSBC notifies customers after discovering former employee took customer data as a parting gift to himself
HSBC Bank USA National Association notified customers after an insider breach that occurred in July but was only posted to California‘s web site on October 30. It’s not totally clear to me when consumers were notified or when the state was. From the letter to those whose SSN’s weren’t involved: We recently became aware of an incident that…
Julius Bär data theft probe widens
World Radio Switzerland reports: Swiss prosecutors say they are now investigating three people in connection with the theft of data at Swiss private bank Julius Bär [Baer]. Until now, the only suspect who has been arrested, is a former employee of the bank. He is alleged to have sold a CD containing the stolen bank…