Swati Khandelwal writes: As the year draws to a close, we have seen the number of emerging threats like advance phishing attacks from the Syrian Electronic Army, financial malware and exploit kits, Cryptolocker ransomware infections, massive Bitcoin theft, extensive privacy breach from NSA and many more. The financial malware’s were the most popular threat this year….
NZ: Huge increase in Inland Revenue Department reports of privacy breaches in 2013
Looks like New Zealand’s new Privacy Commissioner, John Edwards, has his work cut out for him. ONE News reports: Confirmed privacy breaches at Inland Revenue have jumped by almost 400 percent in the past year despite a crackdown after a spate of failings. In 2012 there were 32 separate privacy breaches but ONE News can…
FL: Health department workers admit to stealing patient info
Following up on a breach related to tax refund fraud scheme, noted here in October. Amy Pavuk reports: Two now-former Department of Health employees have admitted in federal court that they illegally took private information on hundreds of patients, which was then used in a tax-return scheme. The discovery and arrests of Shanterica Smith and Gerald…
Wichita man believes identity thief was medical billing employee
We might one to cross-file this one under “dumb criminals,” because the fraudster was caught, in part, because she uploaded a picture of her ticket to a Oklahoma City Thunder game – and the visible serial number on the ticket was linked to a patient’s credit card she had misusing. Phil White reports Paul Vick is a…
Update on the Clark & Anderson, P.A. breach
On September 23, I reported on an unencrypted backup drive stolen from an accounting firm employee’s vehicle: A Maryland accounting firm had to notify 2,906 Maryland residents after an unencrypted backup drive was stolen from an employee’s car at his home. The theft occurred on August 4, but Clark & Anderson, P.A. didn’t learn of it…
Washington University in St. Louis notifies business partners after laptop with unencrypted PII stolen
Through its lawyers, Washington University in St. Louis notified the Maryland Attorney General’s Office of a breach that occurred on September 12: On September 13, 2013, our client, Washington University, learned that an unencrypted laptop computer issued to a Washington University employee had been stolen from the Washington, DC office of the Danforth Center for Religion and…