Kim Zetter reports: An 18-year-old hacker with a history of celebrity pranks has admitted to Monday’s hijacking of multiple high-profile Twitter accounts, including President-Elect Barack Obama’s, and the official feed for Fox News. The hacker, who goes by the handle GMZ, told Threat Level on Tuesday he gained entry to Twitter’s administrative control panel by…
OH: ‘Joe the Plumber’ bill OK’d by Strickland
William Hershey reports: Gov. Ted Strickland has signed legislation aimed at ending “Joe the Plumber”-style government snooping. Substitute House Bill 648, sponsored by Rep. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, creates civil and criminal penalties for violating rules regarding access to personal information on state databases. Read more in The Western Star
Holy ID theft! Victim is bishop of Brooklyn
Alison Gendar and William Sherman report: Thieves stooped to a new low over the Christmas holiday, swiping the identity of Brooklyn’s Catholic bishop in an attempted credit card scam. The crooks learned Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio’s Social Security number and birth date and used the information to apply for credit cards, Diocese of Brooklyn spokesman the…
Breach analyses
Edward D. Murphy has an article about the recent Maine breach study in the Portland Press Herald, here. And over on Chronicles of Dissent, I analyze and comment on some of ITRC’s 2008 statistics and year-end roundup here and here.
UK: 'Curious' NHS worker loses unfair dismissal appeal
A MEDICAL records worker fired for accessing a high-profile patient’s confidential file has lost her unfair sacking claim. Elaine Duncan, a former cancer information officer in Edinburgh, admitted viewing information about a high-profile individual who had been featured in media reports, out of “curiosity”. […] Ms Duncan, of Hoseason Gardens, Edinburgh, was fired for gross…
States Push To Encrypt Donor/Client Info
Michele Donohue reports: Fred Schultz, CEO and founder of the Foundation for Positively Kids (FPK) in Las Vegas, deals with a lot of confidential information in his program for medically-dependent children. The organization stores names, addresses, medication, family information and donor credit card information. A good portion of that information arrived via email. That system…