Insider sentenced to 8 years for private data theft
The former owner of Snipermail has been sentenced to eight years in prison for the theft of over 1 billion private data records. Using his position and illegally obtained passwords he stole personal details belonging to the data operator Acxiom and was shown no pity by the judge hearing the case.
Bank of Russia database for sale on black market is fake
The latest database of Bank of Russia transactions on sale on the black market has turned out to be a fake. Bank specialists failed to find one correct piece of information for the data supposedly from the first quarter of 2005. It is the first such incident when an entirely fake database has been used to take advantage of the huge demand for such products.
Are Europe's whistleblowers safe
Conscientious employees voluntarily informing law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies about violations by their employers are one of the most powerful aspects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. However, European laws do not provide the same level protection for whistleblowers.
Russia unveils new understanding of state secrets
As a result of ambiguities surrounding the interpretation of numerous terms used in the list of information constituting state secrets, a decree was signed by the Russian president in mid-February establishing strict new definitions. On Feb. 13, 2006 Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, signed the decree “On the list of information constituting state secrets". According to the reference notes of the decree, the new list differs from the current version both in terms of form and content.
Russians won't be subjected to State Population Register
Before the Russian parliament, the State Duma, began deliberating the second reading of the draft law “On personal data", President Vladimir Putin informed legislators that he viewed the inclusion of article No. 23 (on personal data identifiers) and article No. 24 (on the creation of a State Population Register) as inexpedient.
Compliance with regulations top priority for banks
This is the conclusion that Fundtech reached following a poll of 72 national and regional banks in the United States. A survey carried out by the corporate provider of banking systems and services Fundtech revealed
Morgan Stanley hit with 15M dollars fine over email archives
Morgan Stanley was on the receiving end of the biggest ever fine of its kind issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the brokerage firm's failure to preserve e-mails properly. Morgan Stanley, the third largest brokerage firm on Wall Street, has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a probe by U.S. regulatory body the SEC. The fine constitutes the largest ever penalty imposed by the SEC for the improper storage of e-mail archives.
Bank of Russia unveils new standard for IT security
The Bank of Russia has approved a new version of the standard act “Information Security of Organizations of the Banking System of the Russian Federation". For the time being the act is of an advisory nature for Russian lending organizations. However, it looks exceedingly likely that within the next few years compliance with the normative act will become compulsory for all the country's banks.
Insurance firm posts private data breach to customers
Yet another company has been added to a growing list of absurd private data leaks after the Social Security numbers of over 600 insurance customers were printed on envelopes sent out by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Human error has been blamed for the mistake that ended in more than 600 Social Security numbers being printed on letters that were sent out by U.S. insurance firm Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina informing clients of new insurance services.
PCAOB approves Auditing Standard No. 4
The PCAOB has approved an auditing standard concerning audit reports in cases when a previously reported material weakness continues to exist.
