The Sony data breach in 2014 was one of the most significant breaches experienced and was a first on many fronts. It was alleged to have been caused by North Korean hackers (calling themselves Guardians of Peace) seeking to...more
It’s tax season. The dreaded April 15 federal tax filing deadline is looming. You try to be diligent, and you file your tax return early, hoping to get an early refund. But when you try to e-file your return, it gets rejected...more
As we mentioned before, Rhode Island amended its Identity Theft Protection Act on June 30, 2015, which will become effective on June 26, 2016. Now is the time to think about and put processes in place for compliance with the...more
The feds have been busy on the cyber prosecutions front. First, on March 18, 2016, the FBI announced that a multi-agency collaborative effort blew up an identity theft ring whose leader was an inmate in a Georgia prison. The...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in collaboration with over 100 governmental, not for profit and private entities, is spearheading National Consumer Protection week, March 6-12, in an effort to educate consumers about...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in collaboration with over 100 governmental, not for profit and private entities, is spearheading National Consumer Protection week, March 6-12, in an effort to educate consumers about...more
In a report of an audit of 13 IRS approved tax filing firms, Online Trust Alliance found that six of the 13 firms do not provide adequate security against cyberintrusions.
The firms, all members of the IRS’s Free File...more
As one who is frequently asked “What happens when I become the victim of identity theft?” or “How do I prevent myself from becoming the victim of identity theft?”, I am a pretty big fan of the FTC’s website and refer people...more
Sergei Vovnenko, a Ukranian hacker, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Newark, New Jersey to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud by using more than 13,000 computers to steal log-in...more
The Internal Revenue Service recently requested a federal judge in the D.C. Circuit to dismiss a putative class action suit by taxpayers against the IRS for a data breach earlier this year that affected over 330,000...more
A lab tech working at a Las Vegas pediatric cardiology practice has been indicted on one count of illegal use and disclosure of patient health information and one count of aggravated identity theft. The lab tech had...more
A California federal judge has ruled that a former Uber driver who is suing Uber in a proposed class action case was unable to show that he suffers an immediate threat of identity theft and dismissed the driver’s first...more
11/2/2015
/ Capital One ,
Class Action ,
Credit Cards ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Hackers ,
Identity Theft ,
Mobile Apps ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Sharing Economy ,
Social Security Numbers ,
Transportation Industry ,
Uber
We previously reported that alleged Ukranian hacker Sergey Vovnenko, also known as “Flycracker,” “Fly” and “Darklife” was extradited from Italy, arrested and charged in New Jersey federal court for his part in disbursing the...more
10/30/2015
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Data Breach ,
Data Theft ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Extradition ,
Federal Employees ,
Financial Institutions ,
Hackers ,
Identity Theft ,
Malware ,
Military Service Members ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Twitter ,
Ukraine ,
Wire Fraud
I have spent some time over the past few weeks concentrating on steps individuals can take to protect their privacy and identity. But how do you protect your child’s identity?...more
10/23/2015
/ Anthem Blue Cross ,
Child Protection Laws ,
Child Safety ,
Credit Reports ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Identity Fraud ,
Identity Theft ,
IRS ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Social Security Numbers
Sony Pictures (Sony) agreed on Monday (October 19, 2015) to pay at least $2M and up to $4.5M to employees whose personal information was breached and posted online during the massive hack that hit Sony in 2014....more
American Thrift Stores announced this week that like other retailers, it has been hit with a security breach “that occurred through software used by a third-party service provider” that allowed “criminals from Easter Europe”...more
10/16/2015
/ Credit Cards ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Debit Cards ,
Hackers ,
Identity Theft ,
Malware ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
Secret Service ,
Third-Party Service Provider
Sergey Vovnenko, a Ukrainian hacker, was charged in New Jersey federal court this week for wire fraud conspiracy, unauthorized computer access and aggravated identity theft for allegedly hacking into networks of financial...more
10/15/2015
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Data Breach ,
Federal Employees ,
Financial Institutions ,
Hackers ,
Identity Theft ,
LA Times ,
Military Service Members ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Secret Service ,
Social Media ,
Ukraine ,
Websites ,
Wire Fraud
We’ve all gotten them–the dreaded letter that informs us that our data has been compromised, including our Social Security number. Some have received so many of these “notifications” that they are de-sensitized, throw their...more
10/9/2015
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Credit Monitoring ,
Credit Reports ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fraud ,
Hackers ,
Identity Theft ,
Personally Identifiable Information
Scottrade, a retail brokerage firm, announced late last week that it suffered an intrusion by cyber hackers who stole client contact information of 4.6 million customers. The intrusion occurred between late 2013 and early...more
10/9/2015
/ Brokerage Accounts ,
Class Action ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Data Breach ,
Hackers ,
Identity Theft ,
Investment Companies ,
Investment Management ,
Negligence ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Scottrade ,
Target
Social Security numbers are one of the highest risk data elements known to mankind.
A Social Security number in combination with a name and date of birth (which are publicly accessible) in the hands of a bad person can...more
Last week, an Illinois judge dismissed with prejudice five of the six claims levied against Advocate Health Care in a consolidated case of ten cases filed against it following the data breach it experienced in July of 2013...more
The federal government has arrested 32 members of the Insane Crip gang and charged them with 283 counts of criminal conspiracy, 299 counts of identity theft, 226 counts of grand theft and 58 counts of attempted theft through...more
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Defense Department announced this week that a Portland, OR based vendor has been selected to assist with breach notification and credit assistance for the almost 22 million...more
9/8/2015
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Credit Monitoring ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hackers ,
Identity Protection Services ,
Identity Theft ,
OPM ,
Personally Identifiable Information
Not only did the IRS lose a flash drive with 12,000 school worker’s Social Security numbers on it in Texas, it admitted on August 17th that its initial estimate that 110,000 taxpayers’ personal information was used to file...more
8/24/2015
/ Credit Monitoring ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Data Breach ,
Fraud ,
Hackers ,
Identity Fraud ,
Identity Theft ,
IRS ,
Tax Fraud ,
Tax Returns ,
U.S. Treasury
The IRS announced last week that the value of identity theft protection services are not taxable and do not have to be included in gross income calculations for tax purposes.
Identity theft continues to be the number one...more
8/21/2015
/ Adjusted Gross Income ,
Credit Monitoring ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hackers ,
Identity Theft ,
IRS