It seems that every day, there’s a new article on ethical charges or issues involving research. The recent revelations about prominent clinical researchers getting fees from pharmaceutical companies that they did not disclose and even more recent revelations about pharmaceutical firms “ghost writing” research reports and paying doctors to put their names on them are…
UMass battles hacker attack
Since the University of Massachusetts announced a breach of its computer system earlier this month, there have been a few inquiries but no evidence that hackers actually stole information, according to UMass spokesman Edward F. Blaguszewski. By law UMass had to post a notice on its Web site reporting “a breach of security regarding personal…
Laptop with loan data missing in Weber County
The Weber County Sheriff’s Office is concerned about a missing laptop from a loan officer that contains sensitive and personal information of hundreds of home owners in Utah. Deputies said the [Sun Valley Mortgage] loan officer accidently (sic) left his computer on a sidewalk instead of putting it in his car, a mistake that may…
Malware strikes Titanium Metals Corp.
Titanium Metals Corporation (“TIMET”) notified the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office on August 13 that “malicious software circumvented the Company’s firewall protections and downloaded information from the Company’s systems.” TIMET reports [pdf] that their Information Services Department discovered and stopped the cyberattack, but does not indicate how long it took for the attack to be…
Finance company identifies 294 recipients of non-payment legal threat
A finance company has disclosed the email addresses of 294 customers that it says are behind in their repayments to the firm. The company emailed the customers but did not hide the addresses of everyone it contacted. The email makes it clear that the 294 customers are being contacted because they are behind in their…
7-Eleven statement regarding 2007 credit card fraud
7-Eleven, Inc. has learned that federal authorities in New Jersey have indicted individuals for the theft of credit and debit card numbers in a computer hacking scheme targeting multiple retailers in a number of separate incidents over the last several years. The company became aware in late 2007 that a security breach had occurred. The…