Grant Gross reports: The White House is seeking comment on a draft plan for establishing a trusted identity system online, with the goal of making Internet transactions more secure and convenient. Howard Schmidt, the White House cybersecurity coordinator and special assistant to President Barack Obama, released a draft version of the National Strategy for Trusted…
Category: Of Note
Update: CNET retracts article on Android app privacy threat
Ed Burnette reports: When a company writes a white paper they send out a press release to get as many news sites as possible to mention the report in their own stories. This strategy worked all too well on Tuesday when security firm SMobile Systems published a scary sounding report about Android apps. […] It…
TX: Cases of identity theft reported
Thayer Evans has a report on fraud reports out of Texas that reminds us that sometimes fraud may not occur until years after a compromise or breach: League City police have received 15 to 20 reports of identity theft in the last two to three weeks, League City Police Lt. Bruce Whitten said. […] The…
Personal data accessed on Blue Cross website
Courtney Perkes reports: More than 200,000 Anthem Blue Cross customers this week received letters informing them that their personal information might have been accessed during a security breach of the company’s Web site. Only customers who had pending insurance applications in the system are being contacted because information was viewed through an on-line tool that…
UK: Credit card fraudster hits 35,000 motorists in petrol station scam
Colin Fernandez reports: A computer wizard branded ‘the most prolific chip and pin fraudster in the UK’ was jailed yesterday for four years. Theogones De Montford, 29, stole the details of at least 35,000 motorists during a £725,000 scam targeting petrol stations. He designed tiny circuit boards which he fitted inside chip and pin machines…
Rogue tax workers snooped on ex-spouses, family members
Dean Beeby of the Canadian Press reports: OTTAWA—Dozens of workers at Canada’s tax agency have been caught snooping on their ex-spouses, mothers-in-law, creditors and others by reading confidential tax files. Internal reports at the Canada Revenue Agency show that rogue employees are improperly reviewing the private financial affairs of taxpayers without their knowledge. And some…