How big a problem is ID theft/tax refund fraud? Well, the government says it’s to the tune of $5.2 billion. In human terms, here’s some interesting stats: Among major U.S. cities with the most fraud-related tax filings: Tampa (88,724 returns, with refunds of $468,382,079); Miami (74,496 returns, with refunds of $280,509,449) and Atlanta (29,787 returns,…
Consumer irritation over TD Bank breach about to mushroom? (update3)
More media coverage of a breach I commented on yesterday. Today Lindsay Tice of BDN Maine adds some additional details to earlier reports about a breach that occurred March 30 but wasn’t disclosed recently: The security breach occurred in March when two backup tapes from a computer server were shipped from one TD Bank location to another….
Millions of PlaySpan user IDs and passwords leaked online
Craig Chapple reports: World of Tanks, Guild Wars and Eve Online players hit by huge security breach Hackers have breached and leaked the personal information of millions of PlaySpan Marketplace users online. Private details compromised included user IDs, email addresses and encrypted passwords. In a statement to Develop, a PlaySpan spokesperson insisted however that there…
Industry piles on to support Wyndham’s motion to dismiss FTC complaint
This might be a good time to follow up on my previous coverage of the FTC complaint against Wyndham, and Wyndham’s motion to dismiss. As I noted previously, this is the first time that the FTC has faced an actual legal challenge to its authority to bring an action over data security. Since my last…
AU: 23,000 Australians had their tax file numbers compromised last year
For perspective, given the massive tax refund fraud/ID theft in the U.S. Isabelle Oderberg reports: Over 23,300 Australians had their tax file number compromised in the 2012 financial year, according to data from the Australian Taxation Office, up from 22,000 last year. “Certainly, the delay in many tax refunds is because they have to go…
Maryland cyberdefenses lacking, finds residents’ info may be at risk – Audit
Aaron C. Davis reports some of the findings from an audit of Maryland’s Department of Information Technology and some other state agencies: … state agencies have not consistently or adequately protected personal identifiable information, such as residents’ Social Security numbers. They also have not consistently reported data breaches, according to the state’s nonpartisan Department of…