Caught in the Act: IT Contractor Stole Shell Oil Employee Data

If you’re thinking to prevent inside threats by hiring consultants from outside your company, think again! They’re drive to make money using others’ identities is a genuine concern. Take Shell Oil for example, who caught one of its IT contractors stealing personal data on its employees from one of the US databases of the company.

After descovering the unnamed employee of a vendor working on said US database used the social security numbers and other info of four employees to file bogus unemployment claims, Shell Oil warned all its former and current personnel they have been exposed to identity theft. More on the ongoing investigation in the Register.

11 Arrested in the TJX Identity Theft and Data Breach Case

The FBI has arrested 11 people in the case of the largest identity theft and data breach in history that targeted TJX and other companies. The suspects of which three are US citizens are believed to have taken part in the theft of over 40 million credit and debit card accounts from 9 major retailers and restaurants. Stealing that much data was possible after installing malicious software on the systems of TJX Companies, BJ’s Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21, DSW, Dave & Busters and Boston Market.

Never surpassed in the time it has passed has been covered constantly by the media. The Reigster tells the story of the breach in a recent article: in the beginning of 2007, TJX first reported the a breach by unknown idividuals who had at the time stolen 46.5 million credit cards, number later proved to be twice as high. According to the Register, the fraud have been going on for quite a while when TJX reported it, as a year earlier industry watchers had noticed an unusual increse in debit card fraud at retailers OfficeMax and Sam’s Club.

US Attorney of Massachussets and the US Attorney General had both commented on the issue:

“While technology has made our lives much easier it has also created new vulnerabilities,” Michael J. Sullivan, US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said in a statement announcing the indictments. “This case clearly shows how strokes on a keyboard with a criminal purpose can have costly results.”

“They used sophisticated computer hacking techniques, breaching security systems and installing programs that gathered enormous quantities of personal financial data, which they then allegedly sold to others or used themselves,” US Attorney General Michael Mukasey said in prepared remarks. “And in total, they caused widespread losses by banks, retailers, and consumers.”

Other than having a sophisticated and high end technique of stealing the information, the ring of thieves also had multiple way to turn the theft into profit, either by selling the data to other criminals or by using it to create fake cards and withdraw thousands of dollars at a time.

The eleven arrested individuals are from the United States, Estonia, Ukraine, the People’s Republic of China and Belarus. The FBI is still in pursuit of another member of the group who is only known by his online alias and continues to elude authorities. Let’s hope he’s caught soon enough!

Private Data on 300 Vets Stolen along with Backup Server

Burglars breaking into the Minneapolis Veterans Home stole a backup computer server containing private records of over 300 residents. The server stored telephone numbers, addresses, next-of-kin details, social security numbers and other private medical details or the 336 residents, according to the statement of an official with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs quoted by StarTribune.com.

It appears the burglars broke into the facility early on a Sunday. According to Gil Acevedo, deputy commissioner for Veterans Health Care, the thieves also took a tool kit, a laptop computer, a guitar and a computer game, and are unlikely to have targeted the private records.

“We don’t suspect the burglars came in looking for that specifically,” he said. “They broke in, kicked in several doors, and took a series of things. There’s no pattern.”

The case is currently investigated by the Minneapolis police together with the Veterans Affairs department. The residents, their families and credit bureaus have all been informed of the data theft in order to prevent subsequent identity theft and fraud attempts.

Second Largest Security Breach Recently Exposed

A supermarket chain based on USA’s East Coast has recently discovered and contained a security breach that exposed over 4 million credit and debit card numbers and let to 1,800 fraud cases.

According to a Hannaford Bros. grocery chain statement cited by Yahoo News, the card numbers were stolen during the card authorization process and about 4.2 million unique card numbers were exposed. Given the scale of the exposed data, this is one of the largest data breaches ever reported, although it is still far from the top leader, the TJX incident.

Hannaford became aware of the breach Feb. 27. Investigators later discovered that the data breach began on Dec. 7; it wasn’t contained until March 10, said Carol Eleazer, Hannaford’s vice president of marketing in Scarborough.

“We have taken aggressive steps to augment our network security capabilities,” Hannaford president and CEO Ronald C. Hodge said in a statement released Monday. “Hannaford doesn’t collect, know or keep any personally identifiable customer information from transactions.”

The breach affected all about 300 chain stores and independent groceries that sell Hannaford products. No other information such as names or addresses have been exposed, but the account numbers were enough to commit frauds for over 3 months. The names or aims of those responsible have not been disclosed, both state security agencies and MasterCard/Visa representatives giving limited comments on the issue.