Information security analytics

The Russian parliament, the State Duma, is examining amendments to the draft law "On personal data" trying to take into account the demands of the Church as well as decide on who will supervise those using the information. The KGB's successor agency, the FSB, has already expressed an interest in the latter role.

According to reports by several Russian news agencies last week, offers to buy a database containing the client details of the Mamba.ru virtual dating agency were distributed throughout the Internet via spam. The agency denied there had been any leak, however, saying the reports were part of a “dirty tricks" campaign.

U.S. data aggregator ChoicePoint has reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to pay a fine of $10 million for Р В° massive data security breach involving consumer records. The FTC has also asked ChoicePoint to pay $5 million into a compensation fund for those affected by the leak. The direct losses incurred by the firm as a result of the leak have now reached $26.4 million.

The whistle-blower protection measures of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act do not extend to foreign employees of overseas subsidiaries of U.S. firms, according to a recent court ruling. Some related issues still remain open to question, however.

Russians have expressed their overwhelming support for proposed new legislation governing personal data. According to a recent opinion poll, less than 3.5% of Russians feel their personal details are safe, while almost 25% believe they are anything but secure.

A Web site for U.S. government contractors had to be shut down earlier this month after the General Services Administration revealed that anyone using the resource could gain access to confidential documents of the other users.

The House of Lords, Britain's upper house of parliament, has dealt three blows to the government's plans to introduce national ID cards. Uncertainty surrounding the costs, fears over the security of the information contained on the cards and their impact on the everyday lives of Britons has thrown the future of the cards themselves into doubt.

U.S. senators have announced two new bills following the American public's amazement at recent reports that revealed just how easy it was to acquire almost anyone's private cell-phone records.

Sixteen people, including three bank employees and several students, have been indicted in a U.S. district court in a bank fraud and identity theft case that involved 37 banks and almost $300,000.

The IT Governance Institute has released the most significant update to the management standard for information infrastructure since 2000. The new version places more emphasis on the responsibilities of boards and employees.