The breach year 2009 starts slowly. Lame January seems no so quiet as it seemed before – the overall data loss increases. And not only data loss is the case, rather the growing number of intentional breaches. 2 out of 5 this week’s breaches were intentional (one breach brought 300 thousand dollars of financial damage). The largest breach of the week happened in Japan. Nearly 100 thousand students were affected by the leak of the personal data to the Internet.
Breaches of the week:
Date Data Loss Organization Canal Cause 17.01.2009 1500 Kennebec Savings Bank Internet Intentional 16.01.2009 300 Р’В«Smoker’s ChoiceР’В» Internet Intentional 13.01.2009 2000 University of Oregon Youth Transition Program Notebook Intentional 12.01.2009 800 Columbus City Schools Paper materials Unknown 10.01.2009 110000 Kanagawa Prefectural Zama Senior High School Internet Accidental Sum 114600Data on 110 thousand students leaked to the Web
On January 10, according to The Asahi Shimbun private information on all 110,000 students enrolled in Kanagawa prefectural senior high schools in fiscal 2006 was leaked--and remains--on the Internet. The information leaked through file-sharing software and includes the students' names, addresses, telephone numbers and bank account numbers used for paying tuition.List of Columbus school employees found during a police raid: data on 800 endangered
On January 14, Columbus Dispatch reported a breach in Columbus, Ohio (USA). A computer printout with at least 50 employees' personal information, including Social Security numbers, was found during a police raid. Until this year, some investment firms required a printout of employees' names and a paper check for processing payments to annuity programs. The paper-deposit process was used for about 800 employees. All of them are offered credit monitoring.
Laptop with data on 2000 disabled students stolen in University of Oregon
On the same day Register Guard published a story on the incident in Oregon. A laptop computer containing personal information on more than 2,000 disabled people was stolen from a University of Oregon employee. The computer was used in the Youth Transition Program and contained names and Social Security numbers of program participants. The computer required a password to view data and there has been no indication that the information was accessed.
Arrested cigarettes dealer caught skimming customers’ credit card numbers
On January 16, Seattle Times informed about a breach that cost 300 thousand dollars to the banks. The owner of a Redmond tobacco shop was sentenced to nearly three years in prison today for skimming credit cards. 38 year old entrepreneur skimmed the debit and credit card numbers of more than 300 of his store customers. Those stolen numbers were used to steal money or incur credit from seventeen different banks.
Kennebec Savings Bank hit by intrusion: 1500 credit card numbers compromised
On January 17, Kennebec Journal covered a breach at Kennebec Savings Bank. The bank has informed 1,500 customers their debit card numbers may have been compromised in a security breach. Bank officials blamed the breach on credit card companies' failure to police the merchants that use their cards.
The new breach season starts
