Exposure

NHS puts over 20,000 records at risk

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is issuing further warnings to NHS bodies about the importance of data security, after finding five more NHS organisations in breach of the Data Protection Act. In one case, a ward hand-over sheet containing notes about patients’ health was left on a bus. The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust...

ID theft attributed to online public records

Some Pottawatomie County residents claim they are the victims of identity theft, and they believe it is the result of their Social Security numbers being visible online. At issue are mortgage and lease documents posted to a publicly accessible Web site. The documents were posted with social security numbers in view. Pottawatomie County...

Missing sheriff’s laptop held SSN (updated)

Not much meat to the report, but WKRC, Local12.com in Ohio, is reporting that: A laptop missing from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department is putting some people in jeopardy of identity theft. A letter was sent out to those affected. The sheriff’s department says the computer contained personal information, including social security numbers. There...

Pixily user e-mail addresses released

The private e-mail addresses of several hundred customers of Waltham, MA-based Pixily were accidentally shared with other customers Saturday in the aftermath of an Internet routing snafu that left many users unable to reach the document-scanning service for several hours. The breach, in which names intended for the “bcc” line of a customer service...

CVS, Walgreens settle with Indiana AG

Settlements have been reached between the Indiana Attorney General’s office and two pharmacy chains – CVS and Walgreens – to resolve data-breach complaints that customers’ medical information was improperly discarded in trash bins outside pharmacy stores. The agreement comes as the Attorney General begins a new concerted effort geared to address the growing problem...

Medical records found in Salt Lake dumpster

KUTV reports that about 20 boxes of medical records were found in a dumpster. The files contained names, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, canceled checks, routing numbers, and medical information. KUTV reports: At least some of the records appeared to come from Mountain Medical Center, a chiropractic office that had been in the...

Lawyer’s Files Found in Dumpster

Stacks of business and real-estate case files from a Middletown law firm were left unshredded in a public garbage dumpster June 26, making the Social Security numbers and other personal information on the documents accessible to anyone. The files apparently came from the office of attorney William Bowen, 1 N. Main St. downtown. His...

A Treasure Trove For Hackers

Forensics experts at the Dublin office of consultancy Ernst & Young have found evidence that prominent companies in Ireland are allowing home-based employees to download sensitive company and client data to their personal computers. Second-hand computer hard drives containing sensitive information – including hundreds of customer bank, Laser and credit-card account details, car registration...

Redford USD Mail Error Exposes SSNs

Employees in the Redford Union School District noticed a problem Tuesday with a mailing they received telling them about a new dental coverage plan. The envelopes that contained the information had the employees’ social security numbers listed on the address labels, where the zip codes should have been…. The district said the dental coverage...

Bike Nashbar Hacked

This site was contacted last week by a customer who had experienced the same problem as reported by other customers of Bike Nashbar (complaints here). Now the Citizen-Times is reporting that discount retailer Bike Nashbar (www.nashbar.com) is calling customers to warn them that their credit card information may have been stolen: A Citizen-Times editor...