Fragile Technology

Fujitsu USB flash drive self-destructs data

Sounds like it should be mandatory that every government official in the world be issued with one of Fujitsu's new USB keys - it's still in prototype but the idea is the key can be set to automatically destruct data after a set timeframe, or if it's plugged into an unauthorised computer.

Like a spy gadget from the movies, this peripheral can be set to self-destruct after a certain period. Fortunately, the damage is not physical and refers only to the data on the device. That's not all. This USB storage also contains a processor that can detect if the thumbdrive is plugged into an unauthorized machine and delete contents immediately. For even more security, this Fujitsu peripheral can prevent information from being emailed as an attachment or printed in hardcopy.

Now we're talking. It's still in trial phase but sounds like a welcome innovation.

City Double Charges Residents For Water Bill

Thousands of families in the City of Casselberry in Florida have been worried they'd have their water supply cut off after receiving bills that said their water would be cut off. The City has owned up to double charging more than 2,300 people on their water bills following a computer glitch teamed with human error (double whammy!).

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ICO Lambasts British Council After Data Loss

The British Council has copped a serve and been found in breach of the Data Protection Act by the UK's Information Commissioner’s Office after the Council lost a CD containing a trade union membership list. Courier company TNT misplaced the disk, and the Council initially claimed the CD was encrypted, however this has turned out not to be the case. The data included bank details on 2,000 union members.

In its response, the ICO has necessitated British Council to pen a formal agreement to improve its data handling measures, involving immediate encryption of all the mobile and handheld devices that are used to store personal information.

Glitch sparks parking refunds from 10 years ago

Nice article from Ronnie Polaneczky, a writer with Philadelphia Daily News, revealing how she's received payments from the Philadelphia Parking Authority for overpayments on parking tickets from ten years ago.

It's all been sparked by a glitch on a glitch. In 2005 the IT contractor fixed a glitch on the parking ticket system that meant it didn't pick up instances where people had overpaid amounts on their parking tickets. So they fixed the system again, this time enabling scanning back the whole life of the database. Which revealed some $800,000 overpayments for parking tickets. So PPA has sent letters to everyone affected offering refunds.

Of course no system is perfect. When Ronnie opened her latest letter from the Authority she found it also included a mis-inserted letter to another person, also offering a refund.

FairPoint: Device containing employee info missing

As we say, another day, another lost USB key. A portable data storage device containing the personal information of more than 4,000 employees of FairPoint Communications Inc. has been reported missing.

The device was discovered missing from an office April 8, and contained information on all active employees and some former workers, FairPoint said. An investigation is under way and there is no indication any data has been "improperly accessed," the company said. The information on the missing device might have included names, home addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, birth dates and compensation and employment information, the company said. No customer or financial account information was not on the device, FairPoint said.

The company claims there is no indication the information has been used. They've brought in an outside investigator.

Hong Kong doctor warned after losing patient data

Another day, another lost USB key. A Hong Kong doctor has been warned after losing a USB key that contained data on 47 patients.

The drive was lost March 20. It had work files and personal data on 47 patients, including their names, ID numbers, sex, age and operation records.

And of course we're all going to get trained some more:

The doctor will have to undergo a training course on data security within three months. The hospital has reviewed training and protocol on data security guidelines, and the monitoring of staff using removable electronic storage devices will be enhanced.

Man spends bank windfall - gets caught

That's the problem with banks. They constantly mess up, then drop a ton of bricks on anyone who takes advantage of the stuff up. A man from Cairns, in far north Australia, has been convicted and given a one year suspended sentence for withdrawing $11,000 from his account. Problem is, it wasn't technically his money, the bank concerned had accidentally credited his account with $55,000 belonging to someone else.

In 2007, a total of $55,000 mistakenly ended up in Myors' Bank of Queensland account after a Melbourne trucking company put the wrong account number on invoices it sent out to customers. Myors, down and out after losing his job, and with a wife and baby to support, couldn't believe his luck when the booty mysteriously appeared. He told Cairns Magistrates Court last week he knew it had to be a mistake, but after a year he figured it would be safe to withdraw more than $11,000.

EU leaders personal data leaked

"unintentional human error" is being blamed after the personal data including passport numbers and flight details, as well as the blood types and allergies of about 200 representatives from EU countries was found on a hotel's computer by one of its guests. The representatives had been attending a recent EU-US conference.

Sounds like a staffer from the conference must have used the hotel computer and left the file behind.

UPDATE

The Czech EU President has apologised and admitted that a publicly available computer did display information on officials taking part in the EU's summit with the United States on April 5:

"The unlucky situation was caused by unintentional human error of one of our employees," the presidency said, expressing "regret that this situation has happened." "However, it needs to be emphasized that the file contained no confidential information according to Czech law and it contained minimum information that might have been seen as sensitive,"

Which kinda ignores the point, the data file, whatever it contained, should not have been left of a public hotel computer. They seem to have dodged the bullet this time.

Japanese brokerage firm loses clients after employee sells 50,000 personal records

Japanese brokerage firm Mitsubishi Security says it has lost clients after one of its employees sold personal date on 50,000 clients.

Police were called in to investigate the data theft by a 44-year-old male employee, who has been fired. The man sold information on 49,159 clients, including names, addresses, employer and salary

5% error rate using mobile phones for health data

OK, if I or one of my family are at the emergency room and the doctor starts tapping away on a mobile device to record my medical data, I'm going to tell him/her to change to a pencil. A study in India has found an error rate of 5% for health data entered via mobile. It compares with an error rate of half of one percent for live operator data entry. The research has already influenced at least one tuberculosis treatment center to switch its plans from a menu-driven, mobile phone interface to a live operator.