http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=9427
Feds Say Judge Hampering Webcam Spy Probe
April 26, 2010 by Dissent
David Kravets reports:
Prosecutors are claiming a federal judge is hampering a criminal investigation into a webcam scandal at a Philadelphia suburban school district.
The evidence prosecutors are seeking is connected to a federal civil lawsuit in which plaintiff’s lawyers claim the Lower Merion School District secretly snapped thousands of webcam images of students using school-issued laptops without the pupils’ knowledge or consent.
U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois, who is presiding over the civil case, two weeks ago ordered that evidence should only be disseminated to those connected to the civil lawsuit. (.pdf) U.S. Attorney Michael Levy wrote the judge, saying Friday her freeze order “interfered with the government’s obligation to investigate possible criminal conduct occurring within this district.”
Read more on Threat Level.
Is this the future for US Health Records?
http://www.phiprivacy.net/?p=2553
UK: NHS responsible for third of data breaches
By Dissent, April 27, 2010 7:34 am
Jennifer Scott reports:
The deputy commissioner of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has named and shamed the NHS as the worst offender when it comes to data breaches.
During the opening keynote at InfoSecurity Europe 2010, David Smith highlighted the health service’s blunders over the past two years where it accounted for almost a third of all reported data breaches in UK organisations.
“In just over two years, there have 960 data breaches which works out round about 30 a month,” said Smith. “The numbers coming in have gone down slightly, but only slightly. They have been pretty consistent for many years which suggests there is still problems.”
Read more on ITPro.
My Data Analysis students would simply check the tax return against the attached W-2's and would note that the SSANs didn't match. Stolen SSANs can also be discovered when withholding is reported in six different states for the same individual...
http://www.databreaches.net/?p=11398
Up to 1.2M Tax Returns May Have Used Stolen IDs
April 26, 2010 by admin
An estimated 1.2 million tax returns filed in 2007 reported wages earned by taxpayers who used another taxpayer’s Social Security number, according to a new government report.
Many tax returns are filed by individuals who have used another person’s name and Social Security number at work, but then filed federal tax returns using their own names and assigned Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers. This often occurs with illegal immigrants. But when collection actions are taken on the account of the legitimate holder of the Social Security number, tax complications can occur for both the legitimate holder of the Social Security number, and the individual who used another person’s Social Security number at work.
A new report, by the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration, found that the Internal Revenue Service cannot currently identify such identity theft cases.
Read more on WebCPA.
Ignore the ethnic targeting for the moment. Where can I buy one of those cell phone taps?
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=9424
Muslim leaders furious over phone tapping in Muslim-dominated cities
April 26, 2010 by Dissent
Mumtaz Alam Falahi reports:
Patna: Muslim community leaders are furious over phone tapping by intelligence agencies in Muslim dominated areas in Delhi, Lucknow and Hyderabad, and have demanded the government to make the agencies accountable. The disclosure about the tapping was made in the latest issue of English weekly Outlook. The magazine has also said that phone calls of some top political leaders from different parties were also tapped and taped.
[...]
The magazine says: “The most intrusive of these systems are the off-the-air GSM/CDMA monitoring devices procured by various central and state intelligence organisations across the country. Sources estimate 90 such systems to have been bought so far, enabling intelligence agents to track, hear and record cellphone conversations at will without even approaching the telecom companies.”
These devices have been often used in Muslim areas.
“These systems are frequently deployed in Muslim-dominated areas of cities like Delhi, Lucknow and Hyderabad. The systems, mounted inside cars, are sent on “fishing expeditions”, randomly tuning into conversations of citizens in a bid to track down terrorists. Unfortunately, though, such expeditions more often end up violating the privacy of individuals than in catching extremists. “We have deployed the system in places like Seelampur or Jamia in Delhi or the old city of Hyderabad on a few occasions, in the hope that we might pick up critical conversations,” says an intelligence official. “But most of the time, we end up getting private calls or lovers speaking to each other,” the Outlook says.
Read more on TwoCircles.net
Technology tend to make tools smaller and cheaper.
New Russian Weapon Hides In Shipping Container
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 27, @05:20AM
shmG writes
"A Russian company is marketing a devastating new cruise missile system that can be hidden inside a shipping container, giving any merchant vessel the capability to wipe out an aircraft carrier. Potential customers for the formidable 'Club-K' system include Kremlin allies Iran and Venezuela, say defense experts. They worry that countries could pass on the satellite-guided missiles, which are very hard to detect, to terrorist groups. This is a scary new development in the global arms race that allows for the proliferation of cruise missiles to anyone who will pay for them — even terrorists. This could be the next big thing in strategic weapons, as they can appear anywhere there is a container ship. The company even made a commercial and posted it onto the Internet."
The article notes that a Russian defense expert said that "as far as he understood, the Club-K was still at the concept stage."
(Related) Because there are no anti-terrorist lobbyists?
FBI, DoJ Add 35 Positions For Intellectual Property Battle
Posted by Soulskill on Monday April 26, @03:33PM
coondoggie writes
"The FBI and Department of Justice said they were going to go hard after intellectual property crimes this year and so far they seem to be keeping their word, as today the agencies appointed 15 new Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) positions and 20 FBI Special Agents dedicated to fighting domestic and international IP crimes. The 15 new AUSAs will work closely with the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section to aggressively pursue high tech crime, including computer crime and intellectual property offenses. The new positions will be located in California, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. The 20 FBI Special Agents will be deployed to specifically boost four geographic areas with intellectual property squads, and increase investigative capacity in other locations around the country where intellectual property crimes are of particular concern. The four squads will be located in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the District of Columbia."
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