begin oe_protect.scr
Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> __/ [ Mark Kent ] on Thursday 31 August 2006 21:24 \__
>
>> begin oe_protect.scr
>> BearItAll <spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hackers access personal data on thousands of AT&T customers
>>>>
>>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>> | Hackers have broken into an AT&T computer system and accessed personal
>>>> | data on thousands of customers who used its online store, the
>>>> | telecommunications giant said on Tuesday.
>>>> |
>>>> | [...]
>>>> |
>>>> | The break-in, which occurred over the weekend, was discovered within
>>>> | hours, and the online store was shut down immediately. The company
>>>> | quickly notified credit card companies and was contacting the affected
>>>> | customers through email, phone and letter, AT&T said.
>>>> |
>>>> | [...]
>>>> |
>>>> | The incident was the latest in a long string of data security breaches.
>>>> | Since early last year, more than 90 million personal records have been
>>>> | exposed in dozens of incidents, according to the latest information by
>>>> | the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
>>>> `----
>>>>
>>>> http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/30/content_5025992.htm
>>>>
>>>> Reminds me of stories such as:
>>>>
>>>> "University server in hackers' hands for a year"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
> http://news.com.com/University+server+in+hackers+hands+for+a+year/2100-7349_3-6074739.html
>>>
>>> Right, another one, these people should always tell us which server OS
>>> their data was on.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately those emails to their customers are likely to go into spam,
>>> because we have all had the emails telling us to confirm our bank details
>>> etc.
>>>
>>
>> Rather suggests that keeping your data at home is the only safe way. It
>> was only last week I was reading about corrupt officials in Oz surfing
>> the government database of "everything". Well, what on earth did the
>> gov in Oz /think/ would happen if all that data were collected
>> together... don't they understand people /at all/?
>>
>> Let's hope that HM's UK Gov doesn't do something as stupid as that, and
>> that our friends in Oz can persuade their gov to stop being dumb.
>
> This was only a few days ago...
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/29/home_office_data_breaches/
>
> Home Office coughs to five database breaches
>
>
> Yesterday:
>
> http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6111358.html
>
> U.K.'s Home Office admits to database breaches
>
> Apparently physical access was involved, but it makes you wonder about the
> pseudo-permissions system laid on top of Windows 98 (NT). With UNIX/Linux
> you can not only administer groups, but you can also log access and have
> triggers raised, which leaves no chance for breaches to go unnoticed, let
> alone be allowed in the first place.
>
Indeed, however, as soon as you have people in the loop, they can be
bought. The best way of avoiding such major collections of private data
from getting into the "wrong" hands is to make sure that you don't
collect the data in the first place.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
Vail's Second Axiom:
The amount of work to be done increases in proportion to the
amount of work already completed.
|
|
