data breach

Britain is focus on becoming a “Surveillance Society”. Information is collected on citizens and entered on various data bases. Unfortunately, Britain is not efficient in safeguarding those data. In another breach of security, this time a data base of criminals cannot be found:
“The British government says a computer memory stick with information [...]

Princeton Review is a company that assists students in preparing for tests. There has been a security breach on the company web site that exposes thousands of confidential student files:
“…One file on the site contained information on about 34,000 students in the public schools in Sarasota, Fla., where the Princeton Review was hired to [...]

The case involves the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Justice. It is a staggering example of identity theft that crosses many international boundaries:
“The US authorities have charged 11 people in connection with the theft of credit-card details in the country’s largest-ever identity theft case.
They are accused of stealing more than 40m credit [...]

A computer error has led to a security breach at Blue Cross and Blue Shield. It exposes personal, confidential information:
“Georgia’s largest health insurer sent an estimated 202,000 benefits letters containing personal and health information to the wrong addresses last week, in a privacy breach that also raised concerns about potential identity theft.”
link: Private [...]

Hackers are quick to identify a weakness and follow where the most money can be made. It seems that hackers have identified small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as a prime target:
“More than 200,000 British businesses have already fallen victim to identity theft and thousands more could be at risk, according to a survey of [...]

The Texas Attorney General’s office has fined Radio Shack $630,000 for a security breach that could have lead to identity theft:
“…RadioShack was investigated after the attorney general learned a retail location had dumped thousands of sensitive records into a trash can. The records contained confidential client data, Social Security numbers, debit and credit information and [...]

Legislation in Iowa mandates the prompt notification of a security breach. Delays in notification place victims at financial risk:
“…”I’m a little bit upset about the Montgomery Ward ordeal taking six months to disclose that there was a problem,” said Rep. Dave Jacoby, a Coralville Democrat who pushed for the Iowa law, which requires companies [...]

In what will be a costly error, more than five thousand students of Williamson County Schools had their personal information posted online. This included their social security numbers, along with their names:
“…Now the county could lose some federal funding because of the mistake. The school district had to notify the Department of Education [...]

The problem of identity theft should be well known by now. There is a long history of security breaches by government agencies, educational institutions and businesses. The cost of a data breach can be millions of dollars, in providing credit monitoring and protection for those who have had their personal information exposed. [...]

The Daily Mail has had scathing headlines when government agencies have had security breaches. Now the Daily Mail itself has become a victim and has exposed thousands of confidential files:
“Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers has admitted that a laptop containing financial and personal details of thousands of staff, suppliers and contributors has been stolen.”
link: [...]