Alison Knezevich reports: Baltimore County authorities say they found Social Security numbers and other personal information from more than 12,000 current and former county workers on the computer of a man who used to work for a county information-technology contractor. The man is in custody in another state and is to be extradited to Maryland to face charges in an unrelated…
NZ: Fidelity Life Insurance reports breach
A USB stick with sensitive information about 1200 clients of a life insurance company – including personal bank account details – has been stolen from an employee’s car. Fidelity Life chief executive Milton Jennings said the stick had been in an employee’s satchel which he left in his car as he attended a meeting at…
US Government Intervenes In False Claims Lawsuit Against United States Investigations Services For Failing To Perform Required Quality Reviews Of Background Investigations
Background checks are an important tool in preventing insider breaches. After Edward Snowden’s leaks became public, eyes turned to the firm that was responsible for checking his background, USIS. And now they’re in a slew of potentially very hot water: The government has intervened in a lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act against United…
From the ICO today…
The Information Commissioner’s Office seems to be providing more information these days on its undertakings and monetary penalties. Not only are they providing more details of the breaches themselves, they’re also publicly disclosing their follow-ups on undertakings. Today they posted: A follow up has been completed to provide an assurance that The Health and Care Professions…
When you try to confirm or disconfirm a claimed hack, Thursday edition
As regular readers know, I often try to confirm or disconfirm claimed hacks before just repeating what I see or read elsewhere. And I generally use a notification feature to let me know whether my requests have been delivered and/or read. Here’s an example of why people may be frustrated or just say “screw it”…
Commentary: It's time for California and HHS to do a serious smackdown on "jokes" that invade privacy (update 1)
It seems like only last month that I reported on a lawsuit stemming from a practical joke played on a patient/co-worker by a surgeon and hospital staff. Oh wait, it was just last month, and it involved Torrance Memorial Medical Center. No wonder I had a deja vu experience reading this report today by Barbara…