As an update on the firing of 16 employees of the Harris County Hospital District, KTRK in Houston reports that the employees were from different facilities: nine from Ben Taub, six from Northwest Community Center and one from Holly Hall. And it seems that my hunch that it was a snooping violation was correct. KTRK…
Risky business: Remote Desktop opened the door for Aloha hackers
When nine restaurants in Louisiana and Mississippi filed lawsuits against Radiant Systems and its Louisiana distributor, they may have represented only the tip of a substantial iceberg of hacks affecting restaurants that used Radiant Systems’ Aloha POS system. It seems that the scope of the problem is first coming to the public’s attention approximately one…
AU: Private files at risk of exposure
Rick Wallace reports: The Victorian government has failed to protect its citizens’ private data, even within its highest echelons, and its computer systems remain vulnerable to attacks from hackers and data thieves. An audit of the government’s handling of personal and private information has unveiled problems in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Treasury and…
Ca: Province waited 7 months to notify public of sensitive security breach
Rob Shaw and Lindsay Kines report: The British Columbia government knew seven months ago about a serious security breach involving sensitive personal information from 1,400 income-assistance clients, yet only notified the affected people last week, the Victoria Times Colonist has learned. RCMP officers found the missing documents inside the Victoria home of a government worker…
TX: Hospital District Employees Fired for Violation
Andrea Watkins reports: A major breach in patient privacy at the Harris County Hospital District has caused 16 employees to lose their jobs. Melinda Muse, a hospital district spokeswoman, says the employees were fired because of HIPAA violations. […] HCHD says it will not confirm specific details on the privacy breach, but it released the…
Follow-up: Broker punished for dumping O.C. client data
Jeff Overley updates us on a previously reported breach: A Corona del Mar mortgage broker accused of dumping his clients’ financial information into public recycling bins has had his license suspended after declining to fight the allegations. According to state investigators, Paul Henry Reed, owner of Seaview Financial, closed his office in February, and boxes…