Have you looked on eBay?
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070309/APA/703092833
Data on Border Soldiers Stolen
The Associated Press Mar 9, 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A computer hard drive containing Social Security numbers and other personal information on nearly 1,300 California National Guard troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border has apparently been stolen.
The hard drive was reported missing Feb. 23 from the Guard's border mission headquarters inside San Diego Naval Base, said California National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Jon Siepmann. It contains home addresses, birth dates and other identifying information for all soldiers serving long-term assignments on the border.
The Guard notified the soldiers Feb. 28 that their information had been compromised. It advised them to begin checking credit statements and take other protective measures.
The Guard has turned the investigation over to the Navy's Criminal Investigative Division, Siepmann said.
"Our theory right now - and obviously this is an investigation that's ongoing - is that it was taken for its intrinsic value," Siepmann said of the computer. "It cost us about $450."
Investigators are focusing on whether a Guard member stole the drive, Siepmann said. It was inside a building controlled by keycard access, but about 20 Guardsmen have regular access to the room.
There must be something here that I'm missing...
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_067192821.html
Mar 8, 2007 6:25 pm US/Central
Attorney Distributes Criminal Records By E-Mail
Police Say Records Included Social Security Numbers And Other Sensitive Information That Could Leave People Vulnerable To Identity Theft
Rafael Romo Reporting
(CBS) HIGHWOOD, Ill. An e-mail newsletter in north suburban Highwood is raising eyebrows. An attorney in the area included the criminal records of reputed gang members in the message.
As CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports, a police investigation is now underway.
The report contains not only the full names and birthdates of more than two dozen minors and young adults. It also includes some Social Security numbers and other sensitive information.
Highwood Police Chief John Kearin is fuming.
“It opens them up to potential identity theft and so there's a myriad of problems from this, civil and criminal,” said Kearin said.
He says the information was only intended to be used by his police officers.
“We are going to try to do what we can to find out where the leak is and we are going to take whatever actions appropriate,” he said.
Highwood attorney Paul Diambri published the reports in a newsletter he distributes to about 500 people. He says there's a very valid reason why he disclosed the information.
“My motivation was to publicize the fact that there was this gang activity so people would be aware of it, and secondly, hopefully, to motivate the police department,” Diambri said.
The Highwood Police Department has launched an internal investigation to find out who provided the reports to Diambri.
But Diambri says there's no need for an investigation because the reports were openly available.
“Several copies of these reports were sitting out in the open in the open in the City Council Chambers at City Hall for about two months,” he said.
“He's got connections in the city that he's known for years and someone could've given them to him,” Kearin said.
The newsletter, which is distributed by e-mail, may now be in the hands of thousands of people in Highwood and other places; identity theft is a real concern.
The state's attorney office has also launched an investigation to assist the Highwood Police Department with theirs.
Attention laptop users! See, it can be done.
http://www2.csoonline.com/blog_view.html?CID=32364
Mar 09, 2007
Anonymization: Protecting Customer Privacy While Sharing Data
Jeff Jonas, the chief scientist and distinguished engineer at IBM’s entity analytic solutions group, has developed a means of sharing corporate data without revealing what that data contains.
Attention drug sniffing dogs! (Glade will offer a Mary Jane scented candle you can send to people you don't like.)
Does this mean “search by odor” is out?
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03/10//news/state/14_11_293_9_07.txt
Saturday, March 10, 2007 Last modified Friday, March 9, 2007 7:24 PM PST
Utah court: Drug odor didn't justify search without warrant
By: Associated Press -
SALT LAKE CITY -- The odor of burning marijuana didn't justify a search of a trailer without a warrant, the Utah Supreme Court said Friday.
Police officers broke through the door of a trailer in April 2003 because they believed the suspects were eliminating evidence by smoking it. The court, however, said there was no sign that Bernadette Duran knew authorities were around.
"Most significantly, there is no indication that the law enforcement officers engaged in any effort, much less a reasonable one, to reconcile their ... needs with the demands of personal privacy," the court said in a 4-1 decision.
The Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the Utah Court of Appeals. The case originated in 7th District Court in Price, which had refused to throw out evidence. Police seized guns and drugs.
The dissenter on Utah's highest court was Associate Chief Justice Michael Wilkins, who said "this was not a close call" that would require a search warrant.
"Protecting the rights of citizens does not necessarily require the handcuffing of police," he wrote.
This was obvious in the reported numbers... Wasn't it?
http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6202763&nav=QEMt
FBI Illegally Used Patriot Act, Audit Says
03/09/2007 7:59 AM ET; UPDATED 1:51 PM ET
WASHINGTON (CBS/AP)- The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.
And for three years, the FBI has underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.
FBI agents sometimes demanded the data without proper authorization, according to the 126-page audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine. At other times, the audit found, the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.
The audit blames agent error and shoddy record-keeping for the bulk of the problems; it did not find any indication of criminal misconduct.
[Specifically:
A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Use of National Security Letters (Unclassified), March 2007 PDF (Full Report)
A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Use of Section 215 Order for Business Records (Unclassified), March 2007 PDF (Full Report)
Cute short, but reading the comments is more amusing.
http://digg.com/security/Big_Brother_State_GENIUS_animation_about_surveillance_society
Big Brother State -- GENIUS animation about surveillance society
Big Brother State' is a nice animation about surveillance society with examples of trusted computing and CCTV. This is brilliant -- some of the best work on the subject I've ever seen. Watch it NOW.
http://www.fh-augsburg.de/~thedude/bbs/small.html
[It's easier on Youtube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jJTLL1UjvfU
Do you suppose the Chinese/North Koreans/flavor of the month, could do better?
http://www.govtech.net/magazine/story.php?id=104325
DNS Attack Factsheet Released
March 9, 2007 News Release
ICANN has today released a factsheet concerning the recent attack on the root server system on 6 February 2006. The factsheet is intended to provide an explanation of the attack for a non-technical audience in the hope of enlarging public understanding surrounding this and related issues.
Download the DNS attack factsheet here [PDF, 289K].
If you can attend in person, you can use technology to extend your senses (hearing, sight, even memory)
http://techdirt.com/articles/20070308/182751.shtml
New Jersey Says People Must Be Allowed To Videotape Government Meetings
from the citizen-journalists,-start-your-cameraphones dept
Remember how Virginia Republicans were upset at Democrats for videotaping them in the State House and putting the videos on YouTube? Apparently, that's not the only place where government officials have been worried about being caught on tape. Over in New Jersey, the state Supreme Court has now said that governments in the state cannot prevent citizens from videotaping public meetings (assuming that the taping doesn't interrupt the progression of the meeting). This certainly seems like a reasonable rule for a governing organization -- but politicians aren't known for being reasonable very often, which is why this case had to end up in the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Citations made easy? What next!
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/014199.html
March 08, 2007
WorldCat.org Citation Feature Helps Students and Researchers
News: "Item records in WorldCat.org, WorldCat’s open-Web interface, now include a Cite this Item link that provides bibliographic citations in five common styles: APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA and Turabian. Displayed in a separate pop-up window, the citations follow the reference standard for each style. The citations window cautions users that "formatting rules within a style can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study," and that they should apply the specific requirements of a reviewing body."
For clueless types like me...
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/014193.html
March 08, 2007
Civil Law Dictionary Wiki Project
From Vicenç Feliú: "Civil Law Dictionary Wiki project based on an article previously published in the Louisiana Law Review, Volume 54, Number 5, May 1994, for the use of Common Law practitioners unfamiliar with Civil Law terminology."
See also "JurisPedia, an encyclopædic project of academic initiative devoted to worldwide law, legal and political sciences."
I heard about this on NPR. Perhaps some of our data breach companies could use it...
http://www.writeexpress.com/apology-letters-ebook.html
Apology Letters eBook
Say "I'm sorry" with elegance and grace!
[Just a couple of samples...
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