Nick Bilton reports: Sony has declined to testify at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, “The Threat of Data Theft to American Consumers,” that seeks to understand how consumers’ private data is protected by corporations. […] The subcommittee sent a letter to Sony on Friday asking the company to answer a number of questions related to the…
Police shut down identity theft operation at clinic
Chicago police have located the hub of an identity theft operation and have arrested the two women coordinating the scheme. Carmencita Kennedy, the reception at Woman to Woman Healthcare on the South Loop, has been charged with organizing a long-term financial crimes enterprise. Police say the 32 year old has stolen the identities of at…
Best Buy Customers Beware: Another Email Security Breach
MB Quirk of The Consumerist cites an email from Best Buy to its customers – and no, this is apparently not the Epsilon breach, but yet another breach involving Best Buy customers: Dear Valued Best Buy Customer, We have discovered that a former business partner’s files containing the email addresses of some Best Buy customers…
Hackers acquire X Factor applicants’ details
Katie Begley reports: Simon Cowell has called in the FBI after hackers broke into his top-secret computer network. Closely guarded secrets about media mogul Simon Cowell and his new US X Factor show have been “stolen” by sneaky cyber crooks. The personal information and act details of more than 250,000 wannabes have also been…
Customers Stay Despite High-Profile Data Breaches
Jordan Robertson of Associated Press writes: Week after week, thieves break into corporate computer systems to steal customer lists, email addresses and credit card numbers. Large data breaches get overshadowed by even larger ones. Yet people are turning over personal information to online retailers, social networks and other services in growing numbers. The point at…
Texas state employees sue Comptroller over recent security breach
Terry Baynes reports: A public school teacher sued the Texas Comptroller’s Office on behalf of 3.5 million current and former state employees after the comptroller posted the employees’ private information on its public website. The class-action lawsuit was filed in Houston federal court on Friday. It accuses the state agency of inflicting financial and emotional…