ControlScan, a company that consumers have relied on to certify the privacy and security of online retailers and other Web sites, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it misled consumers about how often it monitored the sites and the steps it took to verify their privacy and security practices. The settlements will…
Category: Of Note
HHS starts to reveal healthcare breaches reported to government
When HITECH was passed as part of the stimulus bill, it introduced new data breach notification requirements, including a requirement that breaches of unsecured personal health information held by covered entities or their business associates affecting more than 500 individuals be reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The requirement was somewhat…
Customer Vs. Bank: Who is Liable for Fraud Losses?
Linda McGlasson writes: At first this court case was a curiosity: Experi-Metal Inc. (EMI), a Michigan-based metal supply company, sued Comerica Bank, claiming that the bank exposed its customers to phishing attacks. But now this story shapes up as a significant test case for the banking industry, raising several key questions that must be answered…
Widespread Data Breaches Uncovered by FTC Probe
The Federal Trade Commission has notified almost 100 organizations that personal information, including sensitive data about customers and/or employees, has been shared from the organizations’ computer networks and is available on peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks to any users of those networks, who could use it to commit identity theft or fraud. The agency also has…
Hackers Get Data on 10s of Thousands of Payment Cards
Helsinki police are investigating a computer system intrusion that gave hackers access to information about tens of thousands of different types of credit and bank cards. So far, the information for only a few cards has been exploited by the criminals. Altogether, the hackers accessed the numbers of over 100,000 payment cards from the poorly…
(follow-up) Cops say suspected data thief continued spending while awaiting trial
George Warren reports: A data breach involving 29,500 Northern California Kaiser Permanente employees discovered a year ago has led to at least 400 Kaiser employees becoming victims of identity theft, according to criminal investigators. Detectives said the woman accused of stealing the personnel files continued to victimize employees even while she awaited trial. Mia Garza,…