What do you know, we found security-related news.
Fraudulent transactions related to the massive (56 million debit and credit cards over a period of five months) Home Depot breach are now popping up across the United States, according to the Wall Street Journal. And in case you missed it, Ars Technica reports that the former security architect at Home Depot is serving a four-year federal sentence for sabotaging the network of his previous employer, EnerVest Operating. (Note that it s not known who s responsible for the breach, though.)
Speaking of former employees: The FBI warned companies Tuesday of a rise in ex-employees stealing data. In some cases the disgruntled even try to extort money from their former employers, according to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security bulletin cited by the Wall Street Journal. Related business losses — destroyed data, stolen software, unauthorized purchases — range from $5,000 to $3 million, the agencies said.
And does it seem like data breaches are everywhere? Well, a new study says 43 percent of companies have had a breach in the past year, up 10 percent from the previous year. What s more, reports USA Today, the size of the breaches is also rising. You d think that will the news about breaches, companies would be more vigilant, right? The study showed that 27 percent of companies don t have a data-breach response in place. (Last week, the New York Times reported that former Home Depot workers said the company was slow to place importance on online security.)
Illustration from MCT archives
