Campbell Phillips reports on what appears to be a large breach involving an Australian e-tailer: Accounts registered with CatchOfTheDay before May 7, 2011 have been compromised according to a recent email to all of the business’ subscribers. As the email states, the breach occurred in early 2011 and is described as an “illegal cyber intrusion,…
VA uses patient privacy to go after whistleblowers, critics say
Joe Davidson reports: Is the Department of Veterans Affairs hiding behind HIPAA to hit federal whistleblowers? Citing patient privacy, managers have threatened VA employees or retaliated against those who complain about agency misconduct, according to a key congressman and the union that represents most of the department’s employees. The “VA routinely uses HIPAA as an…
Bay Area Pain Medical Associates contacts patients after office burglary
Bay Area Pain Medical Associates in Sausalito, California has been notifying patients of breach it experienced on May 19, when their office was burglarized and three desktop computers were stolen. To their credit, patient information on the computers was encrypted – except for one Excel spreadsheet, it seems. In their July 10th letter to those affected, they write: We are…
TN: Personal records of all Elizabethton students accidentally emailed to parent
John Thompson reports: The Elizabethton City School System accidentally released personal information on all the system’s students on Tuesday. Superintendent Ed Alexander said the information was not further distributed. Alexander said the information release was an internal mistake and there was no hacking. “An official inadvertently hit the wrong button,” Alexander said. “All the report…
California highway patrol seizes records of woman beaten by officer
Associated Press reports: California Highway Patrol investigators have seized the medical records of a woman seen on video being repeatedly punched by one of its officers on the side of a Los Angeles freeway. Chris Arevalo, executive administrator for psychiatric services at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, confirmed that the CHP served the search warrant…
Personal information of 1,700 in Dominion Resources’ employee wellness plan hacked
Peter Bacque reports: Personal information of 1,700 people in Dominion Resources Inc.’s employee wellness plan was hacked in March, according to the program’s contractor. Those affected were notified Friday. The hacker gained access through a subcontractor’s system to get individuals’ names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, gender and dates of birth, StayWell Health Management LLC…