Data Security & Data Breach News
According to Ars Technica, a new mobile card by Ericsson will allow the remote activation of kill switches. However, this does not prevent a thief from accessing the contents of a laptop computer, so a full disk encryption solution may still be necessary as well. Kill Switch – What Does It Do? The kill switch–properly […] read more
Many may be familiar with the stories of lost laptops and stolen computers at universities. And, once in a while, I’ll read stories where elementary schools were broken into and computers stolen. Usually, such computers are not protected via hard disk encryption like AlertBoot, but damage is generally negligible (but not all the time. Children’s […] read more
According to OCABR, you can expect to spend an upfront $3,000 and $500 per month to comply with 201 CMR 17.00 The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) has published a hypothetical cost for complying with their MA encryption law, 201 CMR 17.00. A lot of it seems to center around encryption: These […] read more
Pacific University in Oregon is alerting students, faculty, and staff that a laptop computer was stolen from the home of a staff member. It looks like laptop encryption software like AlertBoot was not used, although password-protection was in place. Of course, once you know how little protection password-protection affords a person, you may be rest […] read more
Once in a while, I’ll see someone searching up “USB data breach cost” or “cost of laptop data breach.” Let’s think about this for a moment. Does it really matter how the breach took the place? The answer is “yes, it does matter.” But, not when it comes to data breach costs. You see, figuring […] read more
It looks like the services of centrally-managed hard disk encryption tools like AlertBoot may be of even more importance to companies. An article at infoworld.com cites a new KPMG survey that was released at the E-Crime Congress in London. According to this survey, fraud committed by managers, employees, and customers increased threefold since 2007, when […] read more
FileFix Pro 2009 ransomware How the scam works Nothing new under the sun, ransomware is not scareware Technology has legitimate use A new type of scareware is making the rounds. In fact, it does more than scare: it essentially asks for ransom: either pay up $50, or kiss your data good-bye. At the heart of […] read more
Data encryption software like AlertBoot can protect sensitive information. But, what is sensitive information? What prompted me to ask this question is this story about the conviction of a man that was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing information from AOL customers. Defining Sensitive Information – The Obvious Many states in the US […] read more
A (Digressive) Comment On The Massachusetts General Hospital Red Train Data Breach File on 66 patients left on the Boston T Blaming human behavior Encryption terrible for paperwork According to an article at boston.com, a manager at the billing unit of the infectious disease center lost paperwork on the Red Line, possibly affecting 66 patients. This […] read more
Whipps Cross University Hospital in the UK has announced that a computer was stolen. The computer did not employ full disk encryption software, although password protection was in place (read why password protection fails at securiting data). Thankfully, it looks like there was no financial data on the machines. However, the information could be used […] read more