Information security analytics

A leak at DiscountDomainRegistry.com was recently discovered completely by accident after a link to the site led to an error involving execution rights on a MySQL directory. As a result, anyone could have viewed sensitive financial and personal information related to thousands of domain name registrations.

465,000 private files containing the Social Security and driver’s license numbers belonging to residents of the U.S. state of Georgia were downloaded over a period of three years by an insider. Management at the Georgia Technology Authority were shocked to discover that an employee, who had already worked for the state government for nine years, was most definitely not a trusted insider…

Computer failure or human error is suspected of leaking details of the permit system at a U.S. Air Force base on to the Internet. In theory it could allow criminals or other outside forces to create a permit to enter the territory of one of the U.S. military’s key bases in the Far East. A serious confidential data leak has occurred at the U.S. Air Force base in Misawa in the north of Japan’s main island of Honshu, newsru.com reports.

Flash-memory drives with the private data of U.S. servicemen, including four generals, and details of military training are being sold on the black market of Afghanistan. The information, much of it classified as secret, was stolen by insiders at a U.S. military base in Bagram. The U.S. military is investigating the sale of confidential computer files stolen by insiders at a base in Afghanistan, The Associated Press reports.

Everything points to the fact that the managers of British companies are still incapable of storing electronic data in line with statutory obligations. It means that companies are running the risk of falling foul of regulatory bodies, as well as facing enormous fines. It is estimated that more than a third of IT directors are unable to advise their CEOs on how long their company is legally required to store its business data, writes NetworkComputing.

U.S. legislators have proposed another bill that addresses data leaks and that resembles a state law that has been in effect in California for the last three years. The new bill will force companies to notify customers of all leaks affecting their personal data. According to experts at InfoWatch, it is now time for the lawmakers to finally opt for one of the numerous bills already put forward.

A correspondent from The San Francisco Chronicle has managed to find out secret information from the Internet about the aircraft that U.S. President George Bush uses. The confidential information was freely available on the site of a U.S. Air Force base. According to the InfoWatch analytical center, the American military has serious problems with its classified information and establishing an IT security policy.

U.S. federal regulators have devised a prototype for financial privacy notices within the framework of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. If the new version successfully passes a test period, then those using financial services will find it much easier to navigate their way around privacy issues.

Insiders at Internet providers have reportedly stolen and sold the private data of over 10 million South Koreans. The personal details are openly sold on the Internet, with a 100-fold fall in their price blamed on increasing availability.

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has spoken out against any possible exemptions from Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for small businesses. The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Christopher Cox, has stated that small businesses will not be exempt from the requirements for outside audits stipulated in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).