From Risk Based Security: We are pleased to release our Data Breach Quick view report that shows 2013 broke the previous all-time record for the number of exposed records caused by reported data breach incidents. The 2,164 incidents reported during 2013 exposed over 822 million records, nearly doubling the previous highest year on record (2011). Although overshadowed…
Category: Of Note
Wachovia customer sues bank for failing to protect his account and then falsely fingering him to the feds
Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald has a must-read piece about what Carlos Gomez, a Wachovia Bank customer, went through after becoming a victim of ID theft by a bank employee, and how he’s suing Wachovia, which has since been taken over by Wells Fargo: Just before dawn, insistent pounding on the front door jolted…
Hackers used previously unknown Internet Explorer flaw in new attacks
Joseph Menn reports: A previously unknown flaw in a recent version of Microsoft Corp’s Internet Explorer web browser is being used to attack Internet users, including some visitors to a major site for U.S. military veterans, researchers said Thursday. Security firm FireEye Inc discovered the attacks against IE 10 this week, saying that hundreds or…
Why otherwise adequate breach response plans may fail
One of the recurring themes by commenters on this blog is that they got a breach notification that offered them free credit monitoring services, but: 1. They can’t access the site they’re directed to; 2. They are alarmed that the site asks them for their personal information; and/or 3. They have no reason to trust…
Snowden Swiped Password From NSA Coworker – NSA memo
Michael Isikoff reports that although Edward Snowden has publicly denied using co-workers’ credentials to access documents he downloaded and shared with media outlets: A civilian NSA employee recently resigned after being stripped of his security clearance for allowing former agency contractor Edward Snowden to use his personal log-in credentials to access classified information, according to an…
Weather Shield employees continue to experience difficulties with IRS after data theft 3 years ago
Since April 2011, this blog has covered the continuing – and concerning – saga of Weather Shield employees who became victims of ID theft and who continue to have problems filing their tax returns, year after year. And now it’s happening again. I thought the IRS was supposedly getting its act together on helping victims of…