Brian Krebs reports: Multiple banks say they have identified a pattern of credit and debit card fraud suggesting that several Staples Inc. office supply locations in the Northeastern United States are currently dealing with a data breach. Staples says it is investigating “a potential issue” and has contacted law enforcement. According to more than a half-dozen sources at banks operating on the East…
Three Atlanta federal judges recuse themselves from Home Depot data breach lawsuits
David Allison reports: Some of the lawsuits hitting The Home Depot Inc. over its recent data breach are apparently hitting too close to home for some federal judges in Atlanta. Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is facing at least 21 lawsuits stemming from the data breach, which reportedly may affect 60 million customers. More than a dozen of the lawsuits…
Grim statistics: Officials warn 500 million financial records hacked within past 12 months
Erin Kelly reports: Federal officials warned companies Monday that hackers have stolen more than 500 million financial records over the past 12 months, essentially breaking into banks without ever entering a building. “We’re in a day when a person can commit about 15,000 bank robberies sitting in their basement,” said Robert Anderson, Jr., executive assistant…
More on PHI disclosures and public health emergencies
Via HIPAA Blog, here are two resources related to the issue of how much PHI covered entities can disclose without patient consent in situations like ebola concerns. The first is from HHS: Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule permit covered entities to disclose protected health information, without individuals’ authorization, to public officials responding to a bioterrorism…
Oz privacy comish says breaches could double this year
Darren Pauli reports: The office of Australia’s Federal Privacy Commissioner has received 60 voluntary data breach notifications in the six months since 12 March compared to 71 received in the 2014 financial year. The statistics provide to Vulture South and repeated at the Australian Information Security Association conference include all manner of consumer and staff privacy exposures…
‘LulzSec leader Aush0k’ found to be naughty boy not worthy of jail
Richard Chirgwin reports: The man that Australia’s Federal Police once described as “a self-proclaimed leader of the group ‘Lulz Security’ (Lulzsec) has been sentenced to 15 months of home detention, after a local magistrate decided he was just a very naughty boy. Flannery was sentenced last week in a case that has to date evaded…