Grant Gross reports: A third U.S. State Department employee has pleaded guilty to illegally accessing dozens of confidential passport application files, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Gerald Lueders, 65, of Woodbridge, Virginia, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a one-count criminal information charging him with unauthorized computer…
Category: U.S.
Send in the lawyers (Heartland Payment Systems update)
Over on Computerworld, Jaikumar Vijayan reports that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the Heartland Payment Systems breach: […] A Pennsylvania law firm today filed the first class action lawsuit related to the breach. The lawsuit was filed by Chimicles & Tikellis LLP of Haverford, PA on behalf of Alicia Cooper, a resident…
TX: Personal data of about 500 Beaumont workers online
The AP is reporting that the personal information of about 500 current and former Beaumont city workers was accidentally posted online on the city’s web site on January 14. The information, which included dates of birth and social security numbers, was removed the following morning. The notification letter reportedly says that the incident happened as…
VA agrees to settle data theft lawsuit
The Associated Press is reporting: The Veterans Affairs Department has agreed to pay up to $20 million to veterans for exposing them to possible identity theft in 2006 after losing their sensitive personal information. In court filings Tuesday, lawyers for the VA and the veterans said they had reached agreement to settle the veterans’ lawsuit…
NY: Personal info found littered on street
Eyewitness News made a stunning discovery on the streets of the Upper West Side Monday night. Scores of documents were found strewn on the street for anyone to pick up…. There were copies of bank statements, 401k statements, credit reports, tax returns and more driver’s licenses than we could count. […] The documents belonged to…
U.S. Consulate Mistakenly Sells Secret Files in Jerusalem
Hundreds of files — with social security numbers, bank account numbers and other sensitive U.S. government information — were found in a filing cabinet purchased from the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem through a local auction. […] The files contained social security numbers of U.S. Marines and State Department employees stationed in Israel, and documentation of…