One ID Pro Blog

A data breach at the National Archives and Records Administration is more serious than previously believed. It involved sensitive personal information of 250,000 Clinton administration staff members, job applicants and White House visitors.

The data, which included more than 100,000 Social Security numbers, was stored on a computer hard drive that the NARA discovered missing last April from a data processing room in Maryland. It’s unknown if the drive was lost or stolen.

In December, NARA sent out an additional 150,000 notification letters as further investigation of the data copied onto the missing drive identified more potential victims, including the daughter of former Vice President Al Gore.

Those affected included administration staffers, people who applied for jobs within the administration and visitors to the White House during Clinton’s presidency. There was also data collected from the Executive Office staff, the Secret Service and variety of event and social gathering logs.

NARA is offering one year of free credit monitoring services those people affected and is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the recovery of the missing drive.

Lincoln National has begun notifying 1.2 million customers of a possible data breach, according to a letter posted to the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Web site. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority was given a username and password combination that let anyone access Lincoln’s portfolio information system.

“This username and password had been shared among certain employees … and employees of affiliated companies,” Lincoln National’s letter states. This is… Continue reading

The FBI and Better Business Bureau Wednesday put out a warning to exercise caution before donating to organizations claiming to be charities that will send financial assistance to Haiti.

“Apply a critical eye,” said the FBI in a statement, and do “due diligence before responding to those requests.”

“Be cautious about online giving, especially in response to spam messages and e-mails that claim to link to a relief organization,” said the Better… Continue reading

1 in 6 Massachusetts residents have had their credit card numbers, medical records, or other personal information leaked or stolen over the past two years, according to records provided to the Boston Globe.  That is at least 1 million people living in Massachusetts who have had their personal information breached.

This included data on customers of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Eastern Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank… Continue reading

The Better Business Bureau released a list of last years top consumer scams:

1. Acai Supplements and other “free” trial offers - Ads offering trial offers for teeth whiteners, acai anti-aging pills, and other miracle supplements blanketed the Internet, including trusted Web sites of national news organizations. The marketing campaigns often falsely claimed an endorsement by celebrities like Oprah, Rachael Ray, and Dr. Oz. Thousands of

The Wall Street Journal has said that the FBI is probing a computer security breach targeting Citigroup. The breach has resulted in the theft of tens of millions of dollars by computer hackers believed to be a Russian cyber gang.

Citigroup has denied this has happened, stating “any allegation that the FBI is working on a case at Citigroup involving a breach of Citi… Continue reading

President Barack Obama chose Howard Schmidt to be his cybersecurity chief on Tuesday.  Schmidt is a former eBay and Microsoft executive. His career includes 31 years in government, including a stint on President George W. Bush’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. He is currently CEO of the Information Security Forum.

Schmidt will be in charge of setting computer security policy and providing budget guidance across the government. His… Continue reading

A hacker accessed a computer server for North Carolina Community Colleges that contained the personal information of nearly 51,000 people.  This included driver’s license and Social Security numbers.

College officials said Tuesday that they were notifying the 51,000 individuals from 25 campuses that they were victims of the security breach.

Officials said they discovered in August that a hacker had gained access to the… Continue reading

On Tuesday a national data breach notification bill was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.  The Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA), requires businesses to notify both customers and the Federal Trade Commission if sensitive information has been exposed to a security breach.

The law states that:

“Any person engaged in interstate commerce that owns or possesses data in electronic form containing personal… Continue reading

24,000 Notre Dame Employee’s Social Security numbers were exposed after the University accidentally placed the information in a publicly accessible location.

The data breach affected employees as well as students who work for the University.

Those affected by the data breach were informed by a letter and will also be provided access to credit monitoring services by the University…