CRS – Cyber Intrusion into U.S. Office of Personnel Management: In Brief, July 17, 2015. “On June 4, 2015, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) revealed that a cyber intrusion had impacted its information technology systems and data, potentially compromising the personal information of about 4.2 million former and current federal employees. Later that… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Records
CRS Insights – OPM Data Breach
OPM Data Breach: Personnel Security Background Investigation Data. Michelle D. Christensen, Analyst in Government Organization and Management, July 24, 2015 (IN10327): “In a July 9, 2015, news release on the cyber-intrusions of its systems, OPM “concluded with high confidence that sensitive information, including the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of 21.5 million individuals, was stolen from the… Continue Reading
Statement by the ODNI on Retention of Data Collected Under Section 215 of USA PATRIOT Act
July 27, 2015: “On June 29, 2015, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the Government’s application to resume the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program pursuant to the USA FREEDOM Act’s 180-day transition provision. As part of our effort to transition to the new authority, we have evaluated whether NSA should maintain access to the… Continue Reading
Hackers continue to leak federal government employee data
NextGov.com: “The group of hacktivists, Anonymous, claimed in a tweet on Wednesday they hacked the Census Bureau and leaked employee details online. The hack was in protest of TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), which is an agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and E.U. critics say would increase corporate power and make it more… Continue Reading
NIST – Securing Electronic Health Records on Mobile Devices
“Stolen personal information can have negative financial impacts, but stolen medical information cuts to the very core of personal privacy. Medical identity theft already costs billions of dollars each year, and altered medical information can put a person’s health at risk through misdiagnosis, delayed treatment or incorrect prescriptions. Yet, the use of mobile devices to… Continue Reading
Summary of Agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports for 2015
Summary of Agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports for 2015 and Assessment of Agency Progress in Implementing the President’s FOIA Memorandum and Attorney General Holder’s FOIA Guidelines With OIP Guidance for Further Improvement “The 2015 Chief FOIA Officer Reports address efforts in improving FOIA administrations in five key areas tied to Attorney General Holder’s 2009 FOIA… Continue Reading
Handing Over the Keys to the Castle
Handing Over the Keys to the Castle – OPM Demonstrated that Antiquated Security Practices Harm National Security. Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology. July 2015. “In this digital age, information is secured, coveted, and exfiltrated by nation states, hacktivists, and ambitious actors because, now more than ever, knowledge is power. Modern needs dictate that only authorized… Continue Reading
NSA collected and stored social media, email, chats of non targeted Americans
Via The Atlantic – “The Washington Post’s latest article drawing on Snowden’s leaked cache of documents includes files “described as useless by the analysts but nonetheless retained” that “tell stories of love and heartbreak, illicit sexual liaisons, mental-health crises, political and religious conversions, financial anxieties and disappointed hopes. The daily lives of more than 10,000… Continue Reading
EPIC Urges Investigation of “Always On” Consumer Devices
“EPIC has asked the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to conduct a workshop on ‘Always-On’ Consumer Devices. EPIC described the increasing presence of internet-connected devices in consumer’s homes, such as TVs, toys, and thermostats, that routinely record and store private communications. EPIC urged the agencies to conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine… Continue Reading
History of the internet – 40 maps and key resources
For all those who do not recollect or may not know how the internet evolved from ARPANET in 1969 to the web of 2015 with its data analytics, e-commerce profiling and of course, global surveillance, I recommend 40 maps that explain the internet by Timothy B. Lee via Vox, posted on June 2, 2014: “The… Continue Reading
Information about OPM Cybersecurity Incidents
“OPM – This site will be updated regularly. What happened How you may be affected What you can do What we are doing to help Frequently Asked Questions What Happened? OPM recently discovered two separate but related cyber-security incidents that have impacted the data of Federal government employees, contractors, and others: In April 2015, OPM… Continue Reading
Commentary – Why Protecting Data Privacy Matters, and When
Data Science Central – (A Wake-Up Call to Data Geeks Who Doubt) by Anne Russell “It’s official. Public concerns over the privacy of data used in digital approaches have reached an apex. Worried about the safety of digital networks, consumers want to gain control over what they increasingly sense as a loss of power over… Continue Reading
