Although ALDI has repeatedly said that the tampering of pin pads affected only a “limited number of stores” in their 1000+store chain, the number of customers affected continues to grow as new reports emerge. In a report to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office dated October 1, Terry E. Pfortmiller, ALDI Vice-President of Finance and Administration,…
Destination Hotels & Resorts update: hack may have occurred in 2009
Although Destination Hotels & Resorts never responded to my inquiry about how many guests were affected by a breach reported previously on this blog, a notification their law firm filed with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office on July 20th indicated that 1,354 residents of Maryland were also affected by the hacking incident that occurred between…
Medco coding change exposes prescription benefit data
They probably wished it was an April’s Fool joke, but it wasn’t. On April 1, United Healthcare learned that their business associate, Medco, had suffered a computer system error that exposed members’ prescription benefit messages on the Medco web site to other members. In a letter dated May 24 to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office,…
Watch those portable devices, Tuesday edition
Maryland-based HomeCall Inc. recently notified the Maryland Attorney General’s Office that an employee’s portable point-of-care device was stolen. The device contained names, addresses, SSN, medical record number, diagnoses, and treatment information. HomeCall reports that the device was “multi-level password protected” (but not encrypted). In correspondence to those affected, HomeCall stated that the device…
Laptops with PHI do not belong in unattended vehicles, Tuesday edition
On May 10, Baltimore-based Alliance Inc. notified the Maryland Attorney General’s Office that a laptop stolen from an employee’s car on May 3 contained client information in password-protected files. Alliance is a not-for-profit that services clients with disabilities and mental health needs. Most of the affected clients are transients who either drop in or who are…
Scientists publish DNA results to encourage worldwide databases
Laura Roberts reports: A group of 12 genetics scientists will publish the results of DNA tests today to encourage people to make their own information available for scientific research. The “DNA Dozen” want to allay fears amongst the public that information about their genes should not be widely shared on the grounds that it is…