July 6, 2008
Consumer data theft
Identity theft -- unplugged
Worried that shadowy gangs of Russian hackers are breaking into computer networks, stealing your financial secrets? Don't lose too much sleep over it.
Firm says it uncovered ID-theft ring
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The very private details of people's lives flashed on a wall at Sunbelt Software yesterday.
Making a fresh start after identity theft
As companies roll out a growing variety of tools to combat identity theft, some Americans are taking a more radical step: changing their Social Security number.
Credit card security lapses cause worries for retailers
Retailers are concerned that they might bear the brunt of lapses in credit and computer security, including the breach that led to hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, of credit card numbers being stolen from a credit processing center that was disclosed last week.
Insurers offering policies for ID theft
After someone used Robert Nighan's credit card to charge $2,000 worth of golf clubs in California, the insurance executive got an idea.
Few MasterCard accounts at high risk
ATLANTA - MasterCard users, don't fret. Only a small fraction of the 13.9 million MasterCard accounts exposed to possible fraud were considered at high risk, the company said yesterday.
40 million credit card numbers are at risk
In the largest reported breach of personal data, hackers infiltrated the computers at a credit card processing center and stole as many as 40 million card numbers, MasterCard International disclosed yesterday.
Missing data is latest in rash of breaches
When CitiFinancial, the Baltimore-based consumer-finance division of Citigroup Inc., put a box of computer tapes that documented the financial habits of its customers on a UPS truck in Weehawken, N.J., last month, the shipment represented one routine step in the nation's sprawling credit system.
UPS loses data on 3.9 million Citigroup clients
Citigroup Inc., the world's largest financial-services company, said yesterday that computer tapes containing personal data on 3.9 million loan customers have been lost by United Parcel Service.
ID theft coverage draws criticism
After someone used Robert Nighan's credit card to charge $2,000 worth of golf clubs in California, the insurance executive got an idea.
Aiding potential victims of data theft
In the past several months, a parade of household names -- from Polo and Time Warner to MCI and Bank of America -- have been sending out "oops" letters apologizing for leaving laptops around that are chock full of private data or issuing news releases about possible credit-card theft.
Two banks send notices about possible ID thefts
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - More than 100,000 customers of Wachovia Corp. and Bank of America Corp. have been notified that their financial records might have been stolen by bank employees and sold to collection agencies.
Hackers use new tricks to steal IDs
Phishing is so 2004. This year's new Web threats are "pharming" and "evil twins."
Police probing data theft from information-security company employee
SafeNet Inc. is one of the world's top information security companies, supplying encryption technologies to protect communications, patents and other sensitive data for corporations and government agencies.
Action near in Congress on combating identity theft
WASHINGTON - Responding to outrage from consumers whose personal information has been stolen from companies, Congress is primed to pass new laws to try to prevent break-ins and to require businesses to confess to customers when private information is taken.
Identity thieves apparently hit clothing retailer
NEW YORK - The apparent theft of data from the popular clothing retailer Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. is forcing banks and credit card issuers to notify thousands of consumers that their credit card information might have been exposed.
Data theft at LexisNexis much larger
The identity thieves who stole passwords to tap personal data from information broker LexisNexis hacked the records of more than 300,000 Americans, 10 times what the company first acknowledged, the company disclosed yesterday.
Data broker hires U.S. security official
ATLANTA - Data broker ChoicePoint Inc., whose enormous consumer-information file was breached last fall, said yesterday that it has hired a top official at the government agency that oversees airport screening to review the way the company screens its customers.
2 executives of ChoicePoint under scrutiny
ATLANTA -Embattled data broker ChoicePoint Inc. said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating stock sales by its top two executives.
ChoicePoint had earlier data leak
Scammers penetrated ChoicePoint Inc.'s vast online database of personal records five years ago in an operation similar to a more recent case that has triggered a national furor over privacy, court records show.
Md. legislators to offer bill on ID theft
Maryland legislators are expected to introduce legislation to protect personal information from identity fraud in response to the security breach at ChoicePoint Inc. in which thieves acquired data on thousands of consumers.
Huge theft of identity data could have victims in Md.
Data collection company ChoicePoint Inc. said yesterday that it will notify 2,750 Marylanders who may have been victimized in what privacy experts said could become one of the largest identity theft cases ever.
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