The Metropolitan Police Department is set to formally admit that sensitive documents leaked to the Internet most likely originated from the MPD’s Public Security Bureau, sources said. The documents, thought to have been made available to the public on Oct. 28 and 29 via the file-sharing software Winny, include personal details of police informants and…
New study shows ID theft exaggerated
Jeff Blyskal writes: If you worry that your identity is at risk of being stolen, a new study by the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics should set your mind at ease. It confirms that the identity-theft “crisis” has been wildly overblown, as we’ve previously reported. For example, credit- and debit-card fraud accounts…
Can Suspicious Activity Reports Trigger Health Data Gathering?
Over on Concurring Opinions, Frank Pasquale responds to an investigative piece in the Washington Post: In an article entitled “Monitoring America,” Dana Priest and William Arkin describe an extraordinary pattern of governmental surveillance. To be sure, in the wake of the attacks of 9/11, there are important reasons to increase the government’s ability to understand threats…
HHS breach tool reveals two more breaches
In addition to the Cook County HHS breach reported in a separate entry and in addition to a few breaches that were already revealed in the media, the most recent update to HHS’s breach tool reveals two other breaches recently reported to them: Zarzamora Family Dental Care in San Antonio,Texas reported that 800 patients were…
Computer stolen from Cook County Health & Hospitals System contained patient data
Cook County Health & Hospitals System in Illinois has notified the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services that 556 patients had data on a computer that was stolen on or about November 1. Although the report to HHS indicates “theft,” CCHHS posted a notice on their web site yesterday that refers to a missing…
MN: Texas man indicted for hacking into Digital River subsidiary’s computer network and stealing $274,000
A federal indictment unsealed yesterday alleges that a 35-year-old Texas man hacked into the computer network of an Eden Prairie business and stole approximately $274,000. The indictment, which was filed in Minneapolis on October 13, 2010, charges Jeremey Parker, of Houston, Texas, with one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer in furtherance of…