A Scottish man pleaded guilty today (Friday 22 October) to Computer Misuse charges in connection with an international operation. The joint investigation by Metropolitan Police and the Finnish authorities began in 2006 into an organized group carrying out a sophisticated e-crime by writing new computer viruses that could by-pass anti-virus products. Tens of thousands of…
Surrey RCMP and Vancouver Police Department disrupt credit card fraud ring
An extensive number of charges are being considered against individuals in the Lower Mainland after the Surrey RCMP and the Vancouver Police Department teamed up to put a stop to a fraud ring operating out of Vancouver. The Surrey RCMP Combined Forces Identity Theft Team (CFITT) began a Fraud investigation after receiving information regarding a…
Class action lawsuit against United Healthcare settled
Back in April 2008, a number of students at U.C. Irvine became victims in a fraudulent tax return scheme after an employee at United Healthcare Services misused their information to file fraudulent returns. Over 1,000 graduate students who were enrolled in the university’s health insurance program were affected. In browsing one of my favorite blogs…
Court of Appeals: Patient in 2007 TB/CDC scare can go ahead with lawsuit
I am not litigation-happy, but I am really glad to read this news from The Associated Press: The Atlanta man who was thrust into the center of a 2007 international tuberculosis scare won a major legal victory Friday when a federal appeals court allowed his lawsuit to move forward claiming health officials publicized his condition…
What’s the actual cost of a FACTA breach?
We’ve seen some impressive figures for the cost of data breaches, but what’s the cost of a FACTA breach? Has anyone seen any analysis of actual costs in resolved or settled cases? Back in May 2009, Olive Garden settled a class action lawsuit stemming from alleged violations of FACTA. Because receipts included more than…
Johns Hopkins University e-mail attachment error exposed personal info
Johns Hopkins University has notified the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services of a breach involving 692 of its Applied Physics Laboratory employees’ dependents. Because HHS’s breach logs don’t provide a lot of detail, I contacted JHU for additional information on the incident. As I have come to expect from them, they promptly responded with…