On June 4, 2018, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed into law Public Act No. 18-90 “An Act Concerning Security Freezes on Credit Reports, Identity Theft Prevention Services and Regulations of Credit Rating Agencies” (P.A. 18-90). This bill makes several revisions to Connecticut laws concerning identity theft, most notably by newly prohibiting credit reporting agencies … Continue Reading
A new Harris Poll for the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), which called 1,006 U.S. adults for the report, shows interesting statistics regarding American adults’ attitudes and fears about identity theft and financial loss as a result of cyber intrusions. The poll’s conclusion is that 48 percent of U.S. adults believe that identity theft will … Continue Reading
I just read an article about a nurse from Florida who was convicted of wire fraud, theft of government funds, possession of unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft. The nurse worked in a nursing home between October of 2011 and December of 2012 and while employed in that capacity, she stole the personal information … Continue Reading
In the wake of several recent high-profile security breaches, employers are increasingly viewing identity theft protection as an essential employee benefit for employees. According to Willis Towers Watson’s 2016 voluntary benefits and services (VBS) survey, identity theft protection, offered by 35 percent of employers in 2015, could double to nearly 70 percent by 2018. Recognizing … Continue Reading
According to several media outlets, Topps, whose products include sports trading cards, recently notified customers via email of a security breach. Information that may have been compromised includes bank account numbers, names, and email addresses of customers who placed orders between July 30 and October 12, 2016. Topps has not publicly released the number of … Continue Reading
A federal judge in Illinois dismissed the class action lawsuit filed against Barnes & Noble stemming from a data breach in 2013. The breach occurred when credit and debit card PIN pads were compromised at 63 Barnes & Noble stores. The Judge found that the consumers did not plead sufficient harm in order to state … Continue Reading
Nakeisha Hall was sentenced in federal district court in August to serve nine years and two months in prison after she plead guilty for crimes she committed while working for the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service. Instead of advocating for taxpayers, she actually used taxpayers’ personal information to commit fraud and identity theft against them. Her … Continue Reading
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center (LAC+USC) has notified patients that the protected health information of over 700 patients seen in the LAC+USC neurosurgery clinic was stolen from an employee’s car. The information, which was contained on appointment lists, included patients’ names, dates of birth, medical record numbers, telephone numbers, gender, and date/time of scheduled appointments, … Continue Reading
MedStar Health Cardiology Associates, (“MedStar Cardiology”) affiliated with MedStar Health, which was recently in the news for a ransomware attack, discovered that an employee sent protected health information of 907 patients to a personal email account. The information contained in the email included the patients’ names, dates of birth, health insurance ID numbers, and some … Continue Reading
Eddie Bauer announced on August 18 that it is the latest retailer who has become a victim of a “sophisticated” cyber intrusion that has all of the cash registers in the 350 Eddie Bauer stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. The malware compromised the point-of-sale system and compromised the names, credit and debit card numbers, … Continue Reading
This tax season, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been working closely with big tax preparation vendors and chains to improve the security this year and safeguard against widespread identity theft. The IRS is now requiring stricter password standards, a new timed lockout feature and limited unsuccessful log-in attempts, along with three security questions. The … Continue Reading
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 previously been convicted of Medicaid fraud for submitting false Medicaid claims and was sentenced to serve 12 to … Continue Reading
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 suffered an immediate threat of identity theft and dismissed the driver’s first amended complaint. The driver alleges that Uber failed to keep his personal information, and that of … Continue Reading
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 a $14.3 million identity theft and tax fraud scheme of filing fraudulent tax returns. Millions of Americans … Continue Reading
The luck of the Irish was not with Premera Blue Cross’s (Premera) on St. Patrick’s Day, when the health insurer announced a breach of approximately 11 million of its members’ personal information due to a sophisticated cyberattack that started in May 2014. According to Premera, cyber hackers gained access to Premera’s member information through its … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, P.F. Chang’s Chinese Bistro, Inc. (P.F. Chang’s) gave the public access to the brief it recently filed with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals asking the Court to affirm the lower Court’s dismissal of a proposed class action against it for the massive data breach it experienced last year. P.F. Chang’s argued that … Continue Reading
