Information security analytics

A chain of liquor stores based in Houston, Texas may have leaked as many as 550,000 sets of customer bank and card records after some of its systems were compromised.

A human services worker, fired for identity theft, has been charged with burglary and theft after returning to her former workplace, stealing office equipment and accessing the private information of almost 800 daycare providers, according to the Anoka County Attorney’s office.

The Global Data Leakage Report for the 2013 by InfoWatch Analytical Labs. The report is based on InfoWatch's own database, which its experts have been updating since 2004. InfoWatch's database of leaks includes incidents (information leaks) which have occurred in organizations as a result of the inadvertent or intentional actions of their employees, and which have been reported in the media or other publicly available sources (including blogs and web forums).

Two Iowa Dept. of Human Services employees blamed for security breaches of more than 2,000 Iowans’ personal information. The Iowa Department of Human Services announced Friday that there was a breach in personal information related to some Polk County social work assessments. There are 2,042 individuals whose information was included in the breach, which happened during the assessment period of some child and dependent adult abuse cases. Letters were mailed this week notifying these Iowans of the breach.

Tenisha Nkesha Francis, 32, of Lake Worth, and Ryan Michael Francis, 27, of Riviera Beach, pled guilty in federal court in Florida today for their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme.

Two UPMC McKeesport Hospital employees have sued their employer, claiming the hospital and corporate parent failed to protect the personal security information of its workers. Employees Barbara Dittman and Gary Douglas claimed their financial and W2 data were hacked by unknown fraudsters, who opened bank accounts in their names and filed phony income tax returns, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. The lawsuit asked for class-action status, representing more than 50 UPMC employees who had similar experiences.

A FORMER Colchester PCSO has been fined for accessing the information of 148 people “out of personal curiosity” while working for Essex Police. Arrie Bygrave, 23, of Peppercorn Close, Colchester, admitted breaching the Data Protection Act by checking 1,684 records for his own purposes. He was ordered to pay £500 when he appeared at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court yesterday. He admitted going through 1,684 records containing the data of 148 people, which were not for policing purposes. During that time, he made 435 official checks as part of police work.

Pine Instrument Co. has filed a civil racketeering and conspiracy suit alleging an ex-employee, Gordon Baker, downloaded company information, including customer lists, software instructions and internal drawings, and gave the information to his new employer, a competing firm. Gordon Baker, said he downloaded the information while still employed by Pine to work on projects related to his job with Pine, and never gave any Pine information to his new employer, Controls USA Inc., of Georgia.

Triple-S Salud has been fined nearly $6.8 million for violations of the federal Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), reports Caribbean Business.

SUMNER – The City of Sumner is mailing letters to 3,600 residents today, warning them of a security breach. According to Sumner spokesperson Carmen Palmer, a temporary municipal court clerk sent hundreds of city files to her personal computer, including resident names, addresses and dates of birth. The files did not include any financial information. The City of Sumner is contacting each individual on the list, apologizing for the situation. The breach was discovered on Dec. 16.