Ellen Messmer reports: The cost of a data breach increased last year to $204 per compromised customer record, according to the Ponemon Institute’s annual study. The average total cost of a data breach rose from $6.65 million in 2008 to $6.75 million in 2009. Ponemon Institute based its estimates on data from 45 companies that…
Informing victims of identity theft (Resource)
M. E. Kabay reviews a resource previously mentioned on this site: Until recently, information assurance (IA) personnel and attorneys specializing in this area of the law have had to search for the appropriate governing laws for each jurisdiction. In this column, I review a valuable resource for locating the laws that apply to disclosure of…
Blundering past HIPAA
Cory Franklin, a physician, has a commentary on HIPAA in the Chicago Tribune that begins this way: Recently, at my local Starbucks I asked the barista behind the counter about a medical problem she had that will require surgery. Her answer left me astonished, “Management said I can’t talk about my health — it’s a…
For sale: Personal details of millions of Ladbrokes gamblers
Jason Lewis and Sandra White report: The confidential records of millions of British gamblers who bet with top bookmaker Ladbrokes have been offered for sale to The Mail on Sunday. The huge data theft is now at the centre of a criminal investigation after this newspaper was given the personal information of 10,000 Ladbrokes customers…
Update on Columbus Public Health incident
Bill Bush provides additional information on a breach first reported yesterday involving personal information of Columbus Publc Health employees: None of the health department’s 450 employees have reported identity theft, said spokesman Jose Rodriguez. The department thinks the information of as many as 300 current employees and about 100 former employees was compromised, he said….
OH: Personal Info Stolen From Columbus Health Workers
10TV reports that hundreds of Columbus Public Health employees were notified that personal information pertaining to some of them was stolen. The station says that the email notification read, in part: Our department was notified earlier this week that Columbus Police recovered stolen financial records and papers from Columbus Public Health as part of an…