Bits and Bytes – Blurbs Concerning Information Security

AT&T, Co. formerly known as Southwestern Bell, which also owns Cingular, revealed that 18,000 to 19,000 customers’ credit card and personal information were breached when a server was hacked by an outsider. The company is offering credit-monitoring services to those affected. The telephone giant is reviewing its security policy. A spokesperson claimed the organization stressed its commitment “to weeding out and punishing the violators.”



The Agriculture Department reported another data breach as a laptop computer and printed reports containing private data were stolen from a parked car of an employee in Kansas. It is just another example of lax treatment of government data. This is the third breach attributed to the Agriculture Department this year. The Veteran’s Administration is running a close second at two incidents.



A Dubuque, Iowa man will spend six months in prison for stealing mail that he was to deliver. Scott Meiner pled guilty to two counts of theft of U.S. Mail. He will also be required to pay a $2,000 fine and $1,202 in restitution. He was working as a highway contract rural mail carrier at the time of his offense.



AOL’s new software release 9.0 has been labeled “badware” by StopBadWare.org. The organization run by The Berkman Center and Oxford Internet Institute receives advise from the Consumers Union. It is funded by Google, Sun Microsystems and Lenovo (Formerly IBM PC division). The major problem is that software is loaded without the computer owner’s consent. The software could affect system performance.



It’s not a total victory, but anti-virus software producers have claimed that worms may be on the way out. Remember when we used worms for fishing and not phishing. We may soon be able to go back to the good old days. The good guys do keep getting better.