Archive for category Data Breaches

Case Western University Website Exposes Medical Information, Personal Information of 452 People

SSNBreach.org reports that 8 files were discovered at filer.case.edu containing sensitive personal information of approximately 452 people. Three files identified participants in a medical study, as well as a detailed description of personal medical conditions, treatments, ages, and other demographic information. In that file, one column identifies several individuals who appear to be doctors or medical professionals who participated in the study: Rein Lambrecht, Thomas Chelimsky, Bill Stacey, and Amer Alshekhlee. Applicants were asked to describe details of their conditions like, “…bladder and sexual function inability to stand > 10 secs, several bowel obstructions… 2 years of diarrhea with no constipation….” Participants were also required to list medications they were taking. The list reveals one participant’s treatments as, “glucophage, tricol, bactrim, prinivil, prilosec, crestor, lasix, zetia, aerobid, singulair, zyrtec, albuterol, oxygen, betopic eye, xalatan, wellbutrin, neurontin, iburpofen, mutli vitamin, vitamin E, B-complex, fero-grade.” A column labeled “Consent/HIPAA form” shows that 56% of the entries read either “needs signature,” or “NO.

Other files contained GPA, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, a few Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, and other information. Several of the files seemed to be notes from interviews with interview scores, and comments like “Score: 10.5 too generous?… possibly too harsly [sic] graded, but not at up to a 9… Intramurals, no honors/research/ no work experience, bad essay.

The university was notified, deleted the files within 48 hours, and later Chief Information Security Officer Tom Siu assured the Liberty Coalition that they “take this matter very seriously and continue to work diligently to ensure that our policies and technical security measures promote the integrity and confidentiality of such records.”

The website filer.case.edu appears to be an online filing system for students and faculty of Case Western Reserve University. While the system, called “Filer,” does not claim to be secure, the system does require a login, which may lend a false sense of security to some faculty or students, and may have contributed to some individuals posting sensitive information. Yahoo.com has indexed roughly 44,100 files and websites at filer.case.edu. However, the files in question appeared to be purged from Yahoo’s caches by October 4, 2007.

You can confirm whether you were affected by this breach by searching for your name at www.ssnbreach.org.

No Comments

Educational Dissertation Puts 17,036 K-12 Students at Risk

On August 28, 2007 at least three files with sensitive information for about 17,000 Tennessee K-12 students and the names of several hundred teachers were posted on a personal website which has since been taken down (http://tnweb.org/). One file contained the Grade Levels, Elementary School, Teacher’s Name, Student’s Birth Date, Student’s Full Name, Student’s Gender, and Test Scores for about 11,789 students. Another file contained the Grade Levels, Elementary School Names, Social Security Numbers, Students’ Full Name, Gender, and test scores for roughly 2,247 elementary school students. The file also contained the names of several hundred teachers. A third file contained the names, social security numbers, and composite scores for approximately 3,000 K-12 students.

The files were placed online as a part of a Longitudinal Dissertation by Christopher Nugent, who had used the website as a temporary method to transfer files between computers. The website never contained direct links to the files, and Mr. Nugent believed that the files had been encrypted during transfer, and mistakenly believed that the files had been deleted afterward. Mr. Nugent generated random IDs and purged names before working on the data set for his dissertation, to ensure privacy. He was shocked to find that Google had somehow indexed the original files, and acted immediately to take down the website and alert search engines to clear their caches. In an e-mail to the Liberty Coalition, Mr. Nugent expressed his dismay, “Because I believe that the privacy of every individual is of the up most importance, I cannot express to you enough that I believed I had taken every precaution to maintain strict security procedures and secure all information.”

The FBI was notified, and Google took its sweet time purging the files. The last file was finally removed October 2, 2007, despite the efforts of Mr. Nugent and the Liberty Coalition.

Confirm whether you were affected by this breach, at www.ssnbreach.org.

Source: https://www.ssnbreach.org/news.php#nugent.

No Comments

Customer of PeopleFinders in Poland Exposes Background Check

The information in this breach was never exposed on any website owned or operated by PeopleFinders, but on a Polish website unrelated to the company. The information appeared to be a PeopleFinders.com report, and was placed online independently by a third party.

On August 21st, 2007 the Liberty Coalition discovered a copy of a “Comprehensive Background Check with Nationwide Criminal” purported to be authored by PeopleFinders.com. The subject of the report (Report Number:1564209) was “Christina M Snyder,” and was apparently issued on 11/12/2006 2:46:02 PM. It purports to be ordered by Christina, but was apparently paid for by “Lukasz Kozacki” of “Tarnowskie Gory, Poland.” The price of the report appeared to be $600, and the Money Transfer Control Number was 9057968254. A copy of this report was discovered on a website registered to “Tuszy ski Micha” in “Tarnowskie G ry, Poland.” The Whois Registry says the contact phone number is “+48.322853753,” and the e-mail address is “tuszyn@op.pl.” The website has since been shut down, and Google has cleared its caches.

The report contained Christina’s Address, Phone Number, Social Security Number, Mother’s Maiden Name, Drivers License Number, Date of Birth, Routing Number, Bank Account Number, Maiden Name, Previous Addresses, Friends, Neighbors and Relatives’ Names and Contact Information, as well as Property Value. It also purported to contain contact information for people identified as Christina’s possible friends, associates, relatives, or neighbors.

This breach was reported to the FBI. It also provides insight into what conditions you may appear on someone else’s background report.

Confirm whether you were affected by this breach, at www.ssnbreach.org.

Source: SSNBreach.org.

No Comments

Jordanian Social Networking Site: 187 Identities Exposed

In late August, 2007, the Liberty Coalition discovered a text file containing sensitive personal information for approximately 187 people, posted by a user on the Jordanian social networking site, Jeeran.com. This file contained names, addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, Mothers’ maiden Names, Drivers License Numbers, Dates of Birth, Credit Card information, ATM Pins, Bank Accounts, PayPal account information, and other sensitive data. On October 1, 2007, Jeeran.com President & Co-founder Omar F. Koudsi e-mailed SSNBreach.org to emphasize that they “quickly… co-operated in removing the data.” Jeeran.com did in fact remove the information within 48 hours of notification. However, they have not confirmed how long the file was available on their recalcitrant user’s site.

Individuals on this list were most likely victims of a “phishing” scam, where a malicious individual sets up a website that looks exactly like a merchant’s website (like paypal), in order to lure the victim into revealing sensitive information.

You can find out whether you were affected by this breach, at www.ssnbreach.org.

No Comments

Iowa State Legislature Puts 109 Military at Risk of ID Theft

In September, 2007 the Liberty Coalition discovered a pdf report on the Iowa Legislature General Assembly website, containing the names, social security numbers, and employment information for approximately 109 members of the military. The report was to the members of the Legislative Fiscal Committee, from Steve Linder, Chief Operating Officer, State Accounting Enterprise. Subject: Monthly Military Pay Differential Report.

The page was taken down within a few business hours of notification, by the Iowa State Legislature Webmaster, and the webmaster requested that the link be removed from search engine caches.

Individuals affected by this breach can get a personalized Information Exposure Report at www.ssnbreach.org.

About SSNBreach.org
SSNBreach.org is an online directory of victims of personal information breach. SSNBreach.org does NOT contain sensitive data, such as Social Security Numbers (SSN), Birth Dates, Addresses, and the like. Consequently, there is no way to search for your SSN or any other type of sensitive data on SSNBreach.org. Instead of storing sensitive information, we document what information was exposed, and the situation surrounding the breach. This information allows victims to further investigate, take action, or correct any harm from the exposure.

No Comments

Temple University Breach Affects 90 Former Students

In September, 2007 the Liberty Coalition discovered two files containing partial social security numbers, grades, passwords, and other sensitive personal information for about 90 students at Temple University. All of the files were posted in the Computer Information System department, in a folder called “~shi.” The University was notified, and removed the files within a few business hours of notification, and requested search engines purge their caches. The files appeared to be a list of students enrolled in Spring 1998.

On September 26, University Privacy Officer Robert Edamala notified the Liberty Coalition that the university has

“…requested audits of their systems… [and] that faculty and staff arrange for, and attend, a seminar on Information Security and Privacy… Temple University is sensitive to the issue of privacy and has formulated policies and procedures that cover the handling, transmittal and storage of confidential information. In addition, for the past few years, we have dedicated the month of October to Information Security and Privacy Awareness, during which we hold educational campaigns on the topic.”

Individuals affected by this breach can get a personalized Information Exposure Report at www.ssnbreach.org.

No Comments

Naval Postgraduate School Breaches 1,058 Records

SSNBreach.org reports that in August, 2007 two Excel files containing what appeared to be personal information of up to 1,058 students was found on a website belonging to the Naval Postgraduate School. The file appeared to contain students’ full names, ranks, the last four digits of the student’s SSN, graduation dates, curriculum information, e-mail, phone number, and other information. The Dean of Students was notified, and the file was removed within hours.

About two weeks after the first file was discovered, another file containing similar sensitive information was discovered in the same directory. No evidence of the school security software leak was reported. To avoid the breaching of security in any professional institution like in the incident above, get to know more from the above link. The school was again notified.

Individuals affected by this breach can search for their names at www.ssnbreach.org.

No Comments

Rutgers University Breaches 227 Personal Records

On August 31, 2007, the Liberty coalition discovered files posted on rutgers.edu that contain sensitive personal information. The four files appear to contain the full names, social security numbers, assignment scores, test scores, course grades, and other highly sensitive information for up to 227 students at Rutgers University. The files largely appear to be grading sheets for students of Wenxuan (Bill) Zhang, PhD Candidate/Teaching Assistant, Department of Computer Science.

Mr. Zhang, the University, and the FBI were all notified. Mr. Zhang acted immediately to take the files off line, and the university requested major search engines clear their caches, which appeared to clear after roughly two weeks.

Individuals affected by this breach can search for their names at www.ssnbreach.org.

No Comments

University of South Carolina Breaches 3,199 Personal Records

SSNBreach.org reports that the University of South Carolina’s Department of Biological Sciences, posted 18 files containing the full names, social security numbers, assignment scores, test scores, course grades, indications of academic misconduct, and other highly sensitive information for up to 3,199 students at the University of South Carolina.  Many of the files were indexed by major search engines, which have since been cleared.

The University of South Carolina and FBI were notified of the breach, and the University took immediate action to removed the files from the website. Though the university has not yet responded to Liberty Coalition alerts, we assume that they have requested major search engines clear their caches.

Individuals who have been affected by this breach can search for their names at SSNBreach.org for more information.

No Comments

SSNBreach.org: Chandra Breach

Watch what you eat and drink
It sounds obvious, but having a balanced diet is crucial for good health, energy and preventing illness. An ideal diet should be low in saturated fat, with lots of fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, oily fish, and small amounts of low-fat dairy and lean meat. Read more about exipure healthy benefits.

Don’t forget to top-up with lots of water to avoid dehydration, which can make you feel tired and confused. Tea, coffee and fruit juice will also help you to stay hydrated, but avoid sugary fizzy drinks.

If you drink alcohol, keep at least two days per week booze-free to give your liver time to recover from the toxic effects of alcohol, and don’t exceed recommended daily limits for alcohol consumption.-

See our healthy eating guide for lots more information

2. Look after your teeth
Brush your teeth twice a day and floss daily. Floss helps to prevent gum disease by removing pieces of food and plaque from between the teeth. Check out these Exipure reviews.

If it’s left to build up you might notice sore or bleeding gums, and gum disease can also be linked to diabetes, strokes, heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Have regular check-ups and, if you wear dentures or have a bridge, ask your dentist to check that they fit properly.

Find out more about dental care

3. Stay active
Daily exercise helps you to stay strong and healthy. This will lower your risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and even cancer. If that wasn’t enough, staying active can boost your self-esteem, improve your sleep, and give you more energy. This is the best exipure fat dissolving loophole method.

Government guidelines recommend that older adults do 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week, as well as strengthening exercises twice a week.

If that sounds like a lot, start small and as you get stronger you will be able to work up to those amounts.

4. Make the most of your doctor
It’s a good idea to get some routine tests done at the doctors to check your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. High readings increase your risk factor for stroke and heart disease but any problems are completely reversible with medication.

Whilst you’re there, why not ask your doctor about the seasonal flu jab? It’s free once you reach 65, or if you have a health condition that puts you at risk of more serious problems if you caught the flu.

No Comments