Kevin J. O’Brien reports: A German computer engineer said Monday that he had deciphered and published the secret code used to encrypt most of the world’s digital mobile phone calls, in what he called an attempt to expose weaknesses in the security of the world’s wireless systems. The action by the encryption expert Karsten Nohl…
Ie: Hospital keeps secret DNA file
Mark Tighe reports: A Dublin hospital has built a database containing the DNA of almost every person born in the country since 1984 without their knowledge in an apparent breach of data protection laws. The in Temple Street is under investigation by the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) since The Sunday Times discovered it has a…
Jp: Ex-exec of matchmaking firm ‘stole personal data’
Here’s an insider breach from Japan reported by The Yomiuri Shimbun: A former executive of matchmaking service firm Web in Chiba Prefecture allegedly stole personal data of about 16,000 people who registered with the firm and tried to sell it to other matchmaking firms, it has been learned. Web said it plans to lodge a…
Top 10 Worst Data Losses or Breaches, updated
It’s been a while since I last revised my list of the largest breaches or data loss incidents worldwide, and the end of the year seems like a good time to look back at what may have been the worst incidents ever in terms of numbers. Remember when the stolen V.A. laptop made headlines in…
Opinion: Administration's shortcomings are not those of WDH
The editors of Foster’s Daily Democrat have an opinion piece in today’s paper that lauds Wentworth-Douglass Hospital for its fine medical care. Perhaps they’ve gotten some flak over their coverage over the breach and allegations of a cover-up. At the end, however, they write: So it is we admire the progress in medicine and surgery….
AU: Patient records accessible
Suellen Hinde reports: A person’s medical information can now be revealed to blood relatives – but not their spouse – without their consent. Doctors can tell a patient’s relatives they have a chance of developing a life-threatening or serious disease because they carry the same genes. New guidelines, released by the National Health and Medical…