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Posts Tagged ‘insurance’

Laptop and computer equipment thefts at Detroit Public Schools

September 18th, 2011

School Laptops and computer equipment stolen

Laptop thefts are on an increase. Laptop theft leads to loss of hardware, software, and essential data that has not been stored. Once the laptop is in a thief’s hand, he can easily access your personal data and sensitive information.

The recent case of laptop theft asserts the need of laptop encryption and strong security measures.

Detroit Public Schools break-ins and thefts

Eleven people are accused of stealing school laptops, computer equipment and cafeteria funds from Detroit Public Schools. Three of those charged are ex- DPS employees — a teacher, cafeteria employee and cashier helper.

According to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy around $50,000 worth of laptops and computer equipment were stolen. Cases are not only limited to thefts but some of them include break-ins.

“They broke in through windows. They broke in through doors,” said Roy Roberts, the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public School.

Court drama

Prosecutor Kym Worthy further added that six of the defendants were arraigned Thursday in 36th District Court; authorities are looking out for the other five.

The defendants are:

Anthony Mosby, 47, of Oak Park, a former teacher at Clippert Elementary/Middle School. He is charged with failure of a school employee to report a felony conviction — in this case his third conviction for drunken driving.

Charmain Porter, 55, Detroit, a former DPS cashier. She stole food sales proceeds.

Toni Ausberry, 29, of Detroit, a former Mumford High School cafeteria employee, charged with larceny and embezzlement.

Dorian Alrich Blair Jr., charged with breaking and entering, possession of burglar’s tools and larceny in a building.

Dwight Alvin Brown for concealing stolen property.

Marque Mency, 23, of Detroit, charged with breaking and entering, possession of burglar’s tools and larceny in a building.

Lester Sanford, 63, Detroit, charged with receiving and concealing stolen property.

Demarco S. Wilson, 18, named in a warrant for breaking and entering, receiving and concealing stolen property and larceny in a building.

Demonte G. Wilson, 19, and Demarco Wilson, both of Detroit, named in a warrant for receiving and concealing stolen property, entering without breaking with intent, and larceny in a building.

Christian O. Williams, 19, Demonte Wilson, Demarco Wilson and Thomas Fent-James Williams

One case story

DPS police got a call on June 27 that four males in white T-shirts were taking computers from Mason Elementary School. Police investigation showed that the first-floor window of the school was open and that a computer storage cart had been unlocked. According to Principal Omega Mostyn the thieves took 12 Apple Macbooks, around $1,000 each from the school.

Thanks to the surveillance video, the suspects were immediately captured.

Christian Williams, 19, Demonte Wilson, Demarco Wilson and Fent-James Williams, 19, were charged with breaking and entering, receiving and concealing stolen property over $1,000 and larceny in a building.

Laptop protection from Alertsec

Alertsec Xpress, the market leader in data encryption, is the need of the hour. Alertsec Xpress offers full disk encryption and is therefore superior to other encryption providers in security, performance, strength and ease-of-use for administrators and users. Alertsec also offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software- licensing model.

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Posted in Computer security, Identity and Information loss, computer security software, data breach, identity theft, laptop encryption, laptop theft

Tags: Encryption Enter your zip code here Hosting insurance laptop laptop theft Social Security number Theft

Sony’s mainstay insurance provider refuses to accept liability for damages and compensation

July 25th, 2011

Battle between Sony and Insurer Zurich American Insurance Co. over Playstation hacks

After reading this piece of news you might wish you were not a PlayStation Network (PSN) user!

Sony’s mainstay insurance provider, Zurich American Insurance Co., is refusing to accept liability for damages and compensation regarding the recent hacks where 77 million PSN customer accounts were compromised.

The insurance provider has filed legal papers covering a total of 55 pending class-action lawsuits that customers have lodged against Sony.

The firm has brushed off its responsibility of covering data breach monetary damages as well as any other miscellaneous claims made by Sony.

History

Sony’s PlayStation Network and Qriocity networks were compromised in the month of April. According to their statement “An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services,”

On Tue April 26 Sony confirmed that personal data of millions of customers had been compromised.

On Wed April 27 a class-action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. accusing Sony of failing to protect, encrypt and secure the private and sensitive data of its users.

Present

Nevertheless, Sony has gone ahead and filed insurance claims as it feels it is a fair coverage under previously agreed upon terms.

According to Sony the financial loss from the breaches is more than $178 million this year. The Japan based firm wants the insurer to cover costs related to the 55 class-action lawsuits under a general liability insurance policy written by Zurich.

Customer reactions and cyber risks

Customers are furious about their loss of privacy and waiting for settlements. It is time to redefine cyber security and the legalities there in. Companies are under the impression that general liability insurance covers everything. According to Ty Sagalow, an insurance consultant and founder of Innovation Insurance Group, “There are probably still some risk managers out there that think that their comprehensive general liability policy cover breaches,” says Sagalow, who was one of the main experts in charge of first drafting cyberinsurance policies for Zurich when he worked for the company prior to starting his own consulting shop. “These types of cyberevents are not covered in the typical standard forms of insurance.”

Cyber insurance

Cyber insurance is the insurance which covers loss occurred over the internet . The phenomenon is a recent one and yet to stabilize. Hence organizations like Sony must take into account adding additional coverage that can hold up to court scrutiny when things go haywire.

How can Alertsec help in cases of data breach?

Alertsec Xpress is the security service that protects data stored on your PC. As laptops are used in place of desktops, chances of data getting hacked are more. Unless your laptop is encrypted, you are running a big risk of your data getting compromised.

Encryption software helps enhance the laptop security. Alertsec uses industry leading Check Point Full Disk Encryption (former Pointsec) software that simplifies data protection.

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Posted in Data Protection, Encryption, Hackers, Identity and Information loss, Uncategorized, identity theft

Tags: breach notification Class action Computer security data breach data security data theft prevention Enter your zip code here Games insurance Liability insurance PlayStation 3 PlayStation Network Qriocity security Sony United States Video game Zurich

Laptop Theft Incidents on The Rise

November 6th, 2010

: Use Laptop Encryption Laptop Thefts

Since the early days of this blog, we have been strongly emphasizing how “Laptop” theft incidents can create a severe impact on the well-being and functioning of modern enterprises. Today, it is a well known fact that all of the secure data is contained in these laptops and if these laptops are stolen, it can cause tremendous damage in terms of processes, operations and off-course FINANCES.

The worries of laptop theft are applicable not just for organizations but they are going beyond the companies to residents of various states in the U.S. A fresh incident in the Brookings county has led to a warning from the Sheriff.

The Sheriff has warned the residents that they should keep their vehicles, homes and garages locked. The staff is also advising the residents not to make the basic mistakes like leaving their valuables in vehicles. According the County Assistant Sheriff Scott Sebring, two vehicle burglaries were reported in Elkton on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

The first incident happened in Elkton residence, the vehicle was unlocked and someone utilized the opportunity to steal a Dell laptop computer. Similar burglary incidents in other parts also lead to cash thefts.

In another incident in Accomack County, a laptop which contained the person information of county residents was stolen from a Las Vegas Hotel room. Apparently, after the loss the county has started receiving reports of fraud activities on the existing credit accounts of the residents.

Overall, there have been more than 600 theft related calls from the residents. However, the Country Administrator Steve Miner believes that it is not necessary for the two reports to be linked to each other. It could be that the stolen computer incident is different from the county data being used for fraudulent purposes.

The county could be under severe trouble if the residents start filing for lawsuits.

County Attorney Mark Taylor “has contacted the Las Vegas police to make sure that they are aware that this isn’t just a simple laptop theft worth $700,” Miner said, adding that the last contact between Taylor and the police department occurred a week to ten days ago.

The stolen laptop contained personal information which includes Social Security numbers, names and driver’s license of over 35,000 county residents. It has since been revealed that the files, which were related to personal property tax rolls, also contained information about some residents of Northampton and other localities.

This information has come from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and other agencies, which include the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Miner said, “We have talked with the DMV and they strongly feel that their staff do not commonly make the mistake of entering the wrong locality when registering vehicles”.

How Alertsec Xpress Would Have Helped

In an incident which highlights the need of a data security and recovery software.The threat could have simply be reduced to an insurance matter by a mere investment of $13/month. The information would have been secure with no loss what so ever. That is certainly a small price to pay compared to what can happen if you lose confidential or sensitive data. Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software licensing model. Feel free to subscribe for your personal 30-day free trial.

News of Record: Police Log (bendbulletin.com)
Millburn Police look for a third suspect in rash of car burglaries (nj.com)
Data Breach and Cyber Risk Veteran Expert Briefs Insurance Professionals in CPCU Online Seminar (prweb.com)

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Posted in laptop encryption, laptop theft

Tags: Allstate Hardware identity theft insurance laptop laptop theft Law Scottsdale Arizona security Social Security number Theft United States Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

AMR Data Breach: 79000 Employees info at risk

July 12th, 2010

: A Hard Disk Drive

The parent company of American Airlines, AMR has suffered from one of the largest and possibly the most severe data breach incidents in this year.

How did the breach happen?

The hard disk drive which contains sensitive information of over 79,000 employees was stolen from the Texas based corporate headquarters of AMR. The incident was reported at the company headquarters in Fort on June 4, 2010. Luckily no customer information was stolen.

How sensitive was the data?

The disk contained data of more than 79,000 current, former and retired employees and all of the data was very critical. The drive had images of microfilm files, containing names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and a “limited amount” of bank account information. In addition there is a possibility that health insurance information could have been also included. Further, it could have contained details about coverage, treatment and other administrative information.

The employee data was spanning from 1960 through 1995 and included benefits information for employees still working for AMR’s various business units including American Airlines.

What could be the impact of the incident?

While no fines have been issued on AMR, going by the fines on other industries AMR could soon witness something similar. Apparently, the state regulators in California have handed out $675,000 in fines to 5 hospitals for security breach incidents of patient files.

What action did AMR take?

According to AMR spokeswoman Stacey Frantz no one has been arrested, nor any employee dismissed in connection with the theft. Frantz said, “The company delayed announcing the theft because it “needed time to understand the scope of the data” and to arrange one year of free credit monitoring for former employees and a small number of the company’s 86,675 active employees who may be affected”.

Like it happens in all incidents of these types, the company has started mailing out notification letters to all employees and retirees from the beginning of last week. To counter the problem, the company is offering a free year of credit-monitoring services. In addition, it is believed to have initiated new security procedures at its headquarters to prevent future data breaches of this magnitude.

People from the union have expressed their concerns about the loss of data and are also hoping that nothing serious comes out of the incident.

Patrick Hancock, national retirement specialist for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said, “We wish they were more careful with the data at the headquarters, like union people are careful with the airplanes out in the world”.

Is this Covered under HIPAA?

All of us are very well aware of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). The obvious question is whether this incident is considered under HIPAA or not? The answer is no and it because of the age of the files and other factors. But according to AMR they are definitely following HIPAA compliance, and will take measures to secure the confidentiality of all health and welfare information maintained by them.

Are you suffering from the breach?

In case you or someone know has been impacted by the breach incident, you can visit the frequently asked questions (FAQ Section) on website at www.amrfaq.com. The website also contains addition information and steps individuals may take to protect themselves.

If you use a data security software a theft would simply be reduced to an insurance matter and cost of the hardware plus time to rebuild the laptop. That is certainly a small price to pay compared to what can happen if you lose confidential or sensitive data. Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software licensing model. Feel free to subscribe for your personal 30-day free trial.

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Posted in Data Protection, Uncategorized, data breach

Tags: American Airlines data security Health insurance Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act insurance security Social Security Social Security number

Data Breach Report 2010 by ITRC

July 3rd, 2010

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has released a data breach statistics report for 2010 for all incidents that involved data breach till June 22,2010.

Apparently, the year has already witnessed 325 incidents which has lead to the exposure of 8.3 million recosrds. This number definitely indicates that the overall incidents for they year 2010 will exceed the cases that had happened in 2009. The reported incidents in 2009 were 498.

While the Business industry had accounted 208 of the total incidents in 2009, this year the number has already reached 121 incidents. In 2009, the cases reported from the Government/Military sector were 2009, while this year they have already reached 54.

The most surprising of all the categories is the Banking sector. While last year (2009) there were ‘57′ standing at 11.4% of the total breaches. This year inside 6 months, while the number has grown to ‘37′ the percentage of incidents has dropped to 11.1%.

Once again – The report highlights a key and an alarming fact. 41.8% of the stories have been reported from the business vertical.

Statistical reports like these are a fair lesson for organizations to implement proper security policies in place. Not only do the organizations need to be proactive they also need to take appropriate measures to encrpy data, implement computer security software, data enryption methods etc.

Data Security with Alertsec Xpress

If you use a data security software a theft would simply be reduced to an insurance matter and cost of the hardware plus time to rebuild the laptop. That is certainly a small price to pay compared to what can happen if you lose confidential or senstive data. Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software licensing model. Feel free to subscribe for your personal 30-day free trial.