PrivSec News Briefing
Personal data security breaches hit 100 million milestone in US (12/19/2006 - FineExtra.com)
Over 100 million data records of US residents have been exposed due to security breaches since February 2005, according to records maintained by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Privacy Watch: Phishers reach cell phones (12/19/2006 – Techworld)
Have you ever been SMiShed? That's not as personal a question as it may sound to the uninitiated, but it does relate to protecting your personal data.
100m US records exposed by security blunders: ID theft milestone reached (12/18/2006 - The Register)
The total number of US customer records compromised as a result of security blunders has hit the 100m milestone.
The running total of potential compromised records recorded by the US Privacy Rights Clearinghouse since February 2005 reached this milestone with news last week of the loss of a laptop by a Boeing worker, a breach that potentially affected 382,000 current and previous workers at the aircraft manufacturer.
Do Spammers Take Holidays? (12/19/2006 - eMarketer.com)
One of the attractive things about taking a holiday is that one is able to shut down the computer and not worry about work for a while. Unfortunately, the moment you take your eye off your e-mail inbox, the unrelenting army of spammers will inevitably deliver hundreds of little digital presents you did not ask for.
Nike iPod kit could compromise joggers' security: Transmitter doesn't encrypt information (12/18/2006 -Pocket Lint)
The iPod Sport kit is not secure and may put joggers at risk of being tracked by thieves and stalkers, say researchers.
The Nike iPod Sport kits uses a receiver plugged into the iPod Nano to read signals from a sensor in the user's shoe. It then measures distance travelled, calories burned, and other statistics.
Personal Security and Identity Theft Expert: Smart Organizations Understand that Proper Laptop Computer Security Calls for GPS Technology (12/19/2006 - OpenPR.com)
End-of-year reporting suggests that desktop computer use is down, in favor of the ever-more-prevalent laptop. Robert Siciliano, a personal security and identity theft expert, pointed to recent, high-profile laptop thefts and said smart organizations that store sensitive data on theft-prone mobile computing devices understand the implications: Secure laptops with GPS, encryption, and other technologies, or suffer data breach–associated costs with increasing frequency.
By the numbers: A dismal year for data breaches (12/19/2006 - zdnet.com)
With the Privacy Data Clearinghouse reporting that the number of data records lost has surpassed the 100 million mark you’d think the organizations that hold our data would be shamed into better security practices.
