Craig Harris reports: Nearly 44,000 state retirees may have had their personal data compromised in a security breach, and the Arizona State Retirement System is spending about $291,000 to provide identity-protection services for them. The pension system this month began notifying affected retirees, all of whom were enrolled in the ASRS dental plans. […] Cannella said the…
Former TSA worker sentenced for ID theft fraud using stolen student identity info
Paula McMahon reports an update to a case previously noted on this site: A Broward man was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for identity theft and wire fraud last week after admitting he used Miami-Dade County public school students’ stolen identities to file illegal tax returns. Donald Claude, 34, of Miramar,…
Attacks on cities’ systems reported
Fox10 in Phoenix reports that the City of Phoenix’s internet system was under attack by hackers over the weekend. And the email system for the city of Mobile, Alabama was under heavy attack last week by hackers who used the system to send out spam. No personal information was reportedly compromised in either of the attacks,…
Feds identify suspected ‘second leaker’ for Snowden reporters
Michael Isikoff reports: The FBI has identified an employee of a federal contracting firm suspected of being the so-called “second leaker” who turned over sensitive documents about the U.S. government’s terrorist watch list to a journalist closely associated with ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden, according to law enforcement and intelligence sources who have been briefed on the…
Researchers identify sophisticated Chinese cyberespionage group
Ellen Nakashima reports: A coalition of security researchers has identified a Chinese cyberespionage group that appears to be the most sophisticated of any publicly known Chinese hacker unit and targets not only U.S. and Western government agencies but also dissidents inside and outside China. News of the state-sponsored hacker group dubbed Axiom comes a week…
ME: Former employees sue Washington County sheriff over release of personnel information
Bill Trotter and Judy Harrison report: Seventeen ex-employees of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office have sued Sheriff Donnie Smith over the collection and release of their personnel information as part of Smith’s unsuccessful effort to contest the ballot eligibility of two political opponents earlier this year. […] The complaint, filed Monday in Washington County Superior Court,…