Keith Gerein reports: Outrage over the handling of Alberta’s largest-ever breach of private health information has prompted new legislation that will force companies to immediately raise the alarm if a similar incident happens again. Health Minister Fred Horne said amendments to the Health Information Act will require custodians of health information to disclose any breach…
Category: Of Note
Former Navy nuclear aircraft systems administrator charged with hacking
Yesterday, the United States charged two men for their participation in a conspiracy to hack into the computer systems of over 30 public and private organizations, including the United States Navy and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The single-count Information alleges that Nicholas Paul Knight, 27, of Chantilly, Virginia, and Daniel Trenton Krueger, 20, of Salem, Illinois,…
FTC told to disclose the data security standards it uses for data security enforcement actions
Jaikumar Vijayan reports: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can be compelled to disclose details of the data security standards it uses to pursue enforcement action against companies that suffer data breaches, the agency’s chief administrative law judge ruled Thursday. The decision came in response to a motion filed by LabMD, a now-defunct medical laboratory that…
Verizon Data Breach Report: Payment-Card Theft Can Be Avoided at Little Cost
Danny Yadron reports: There were nearly 200 hacks last year of the payment systems used by retailers, hotels and restaurants. Most of them could have been prevented without spending much money, according to a new report from Verizon’s cybersecurity team. The theft of 40 million credit and debit card numbers from Target last year raised new questions…
Massachusetts AG Coakley Investigates Potential Data Breach Involving Major Credit Reporting Company; Issues Consumer Advisory
Press release from Massachusetts Attorney General Coakley: Following reports that criminals were able to gain access to a commercial database that contained the personal information, including social security numbers, of more than 200 million U.S. citizens, Attorney General Martha Coakley, along with attorneys general across the country, have opened an investigation into the data broker…
University of Virginia, Spokeo, Indiana among eight more sites hacked by NullCrew (update1)
Students and employees of the University of Virginia (UVa) may be scratching their heads today and wondering what UVa can or will do to secure its servers better. The university, which was hacked in 2012 by @AnonAntidote and again in 2013 by a former UVa student known as @R00tTh3B0x, has reportedly been hacked yet again –…