Elizabeth Snell reports: A Montana judge recently ruled that a healthcare employee’s HIPAA violation did not preclude her from protection under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The employee had accessed personal information on coworkers for her union-organizing campaign, according to the judge’s decision. Her employer then terminated her, citing a HIPAA violation. However, the judge…
Category: Of Note
Five Charged in Nationwide Identity Theft Scheme
Conspirators obtain identity information of 125,000 taxpayers and submit alleged false federal income tax returns seeking $6.6 million in refunds from IRS MEDFORD, Ore. – Federal law enforcement agents arrested four individuals in conjunction with a series of search and arrest warrants executed in Maryland and Georgia based on an Oregon federal grand jury indictment…
The CFAA meets the “cannibal cop” in the Second Circuit — and maybe beyond
Orin Kerr writes: The Second Circuit held oral argument Tuesday in United States v. Valle, widely known as the “Cannibal Cop” case. There was a ton of media attention about this case at trial, including the trial judge’s decision to overturn the jury verdict for conspiracy to commit kidnapping on the ground that it was all a fantasy. HBO has already…
Follow-Up: How the University of Sydney Was Hacked
Back in February, we noted a hack involving the University of Sydney. A young hacker named “Abdilo” claimed responsibility for it and noted that he had exploited an Orsee vulnerability. Last week, Chris Howell of Honi Soit followed up on the breach: Closer to home, a reliance on security through obscurity seems to be partially responsible for…
Two Men Who Breached Photobucket.com Indicted and Arrested on Conspiracy and Fraud Related Charges
Two men have been arrested after breaching the computer services of Colorado based Photobucket, a company that operates an image and video hosting website. Brandon Bourret, 39, of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Athanasios Andrianakis, 26, of Sunnyvale, California, were arrested on Friday, May 8. According to the indictment, beginning on July 12, 2012 and continuing…
Hack of RE/MAX Twin City Realty agent’s gmail account costs young home buyer $10K – and they refuse to make it right
Sean O’Shea reports that when a realtor’s gmail account was hacked, it cost a home purchaser $10,000 – $10,000 that the agent and her realty firm won’t compensate. The young home buyer, Kaitlyn DiMarco, says that after she purchased a home, she received an email – purportedly from her realtor – telling her that it would cost $10,000…