Breach

WASHINGTON -- The president, it seems, has been taking himself seriously in his frequent references to himself as ''the repairer of the breach.'' Casting about for a legacy larger than family leave, a news subject grander than grand juries, he has lighted upon the subject of race.In February, he asked Erskine Bowles to take time off from his compassionate efforts for poor ol' Webb and figure out what to do about the difficulties between white people and black people in this country. And now the president is going to take some actions.

Howard County school board member Allen Dyer testified Friday in the case brought by the board to remove him, stating that despite being at odds with some fellow members he has "contributed to a better board of education. " The Howard school board requested in June 2011 that the state board remove Dyer in a resolution that accused him of such infractions as breaching confidentiality requirements, undermining the board's function and bullying. Throughout the administrative law hearings, Dyer has contended that the grounds for dismissal are vague and without merit.

Last year, Congress gave the federal government a D+ in computer security. Even worse, the Department of Homeland Security, the agency responsible for tracking digital security breaches, got an F. So did the Department of Veterans Affairs, where an employee this month compromised the Social Security numbers of up to 26.5 million veterans and their spouses after burglars stole a laptop and discs from an analyst's Montgomery County home. In the VA case, the midlevel worker did not have permission to remove the material from VA offices.

When the General Assembly considered video lottery facility legislation in the special session of 2007, a defined area of Anne Arundel County was included as one of five designated sites. In fact, it was included as the site allocated the greatest number of slot machines. This meant it was the site that would generate the greatest revenue for the state education trust fund. Anne Arundel County was willing to accommodate the largest site and respond to the constitutional provision requiring compliance with local zoning laws.

In its own deliciously dogged manner, Breach tells the story of the capture of super-spy Robert Hanssen from what looks, at first, like the wrong end of the telescope. Writer-director Billy Ray doesn't try to dazzle you with the scope of Hanssen's treachery. He focuses on how this man could operate for decades as an enemy within, rising to the top rung of American counterintelligence experts. By the end, the movie has planted a big nightmare in your brain that won't leave you at the crack of dawn.

A security breach at a major credit card payment processor has prompted more than two dozen banks nationwide - including Baltimore-based Provident Bank - to notify customers that their credit and debit card numbers might have been compromised. Provident sent new cards to customers last week with a letter stating that it has "been advised of a very large data breach impacting millions of credit and debit card numbers." Only those customers who received letters and replacement cards sent last week were affected, said Dana Jung, Provident's manager of business continuity and customer information security.

Rogue computer experts have tampered with America Online's business and customer information files, creating a security breach that could affect the accounts of subscribers to the giant on-line service.A spokeswoman with the on-line service confirmed that the company has a security problem but would not disclose details of recent problems out of concern that any information could be used by hackers against the company's computer network.But sources associated with the company said that the hackers appeared to have obtained access to a wide variety of files, including the personal files of Steve Case, the company's president and chief executive.

LONDON -- The British government struggled yesterday to explain its loss of computer discs containing detailed personal information on 25 million Britons, including an unknown number of bank account identifiers, in what analysts described as potentially the most significant privacy breach of the digital era. It has defended its decision not to reveal the loss until Tuesday, 10 days after it had been informed, saying banks had asked for time to put heightened...

BREACH -- Universal / 29.98 A key question of post-Sept. 11 life - "Whom can you trust?" - receives quietly horrifying treatment in Breach, the real-life tale of an espionage case that unfolded early in 2001 and that would have dominated headlines for many months had it not been for Sept. 11. Robert Hanssen spent 22 of his 25 years in the FBI divulging secrets to the U.S.S.R. and then to the new Russia. He passed along the names of KGB agents on the U.S. payroll as well as emergency protocols for relocating the president.

A U.S. District Court jury in Baltimore ordered national insurance broker Alexander & Alexander Services Inc. yesterday to pay $9.9 million for breach of contract in a plan to sell a workers' compensation package to fast-food restaurants.In its civil suit against the Owings Mills insurer, Preferred Employers Group Inc. of Florida claimed that Alexander stole its plan to market a workers' compensation program tailored for Burger King and other fast-food chains."A large company often gets this feeling it can do anything it wants to do because it's bigger," said Gerson Mehlman, attorney for PEGI.

An administrative hearing to determine whether Howard County school board member Allen Dyer should be removed from the panel opened Monday with Dyer questioning fellow board member Frank Aquino for about three hours. Aquino had drafted the resolution the Howard school board approved in June asking the state school board to oust Dyer, accusing him of such violations as breaching confidentiality requirements. The state school board sent the matter to the office of administrative hearings.

Even among the hundreds of data breaches that occur each year, the hacking of card processor Global Payments stands out. The Atlanta-based company, which processes credit and debit card transactions for Visa and MasterCard, recently revealed that hackers gained access to no more than 1.5 million card numbers. Visa and MasterCard quickly announced that the accounts are being monitored and cardholders won't be liable for any fraudulent charges. But the Global Payments breach is another reminder that despite all of our attempts to keep personal information out of the hands of thieves — shredding documents and frequently changing passwords — we still are vulnerable.

MasterCard and Visa are warning banks nationwide of a massive breach at an unnamed U.S-based credit card processor, potentially involving as more than 10 million card numbers could be compromised, according to the blog, KrebsonSecurity . Blogger Brian Krebs says Visa and MasterCard started alerting banks to the problem late last week. So far, Krebs says, the compromised cards seemed to be concentrated in the New York City area. I will post more information from MasterCard and Visa when it comes in. Update 3: Response from MasterCard  "MasterCard is currently investigating a potential account data compromise event of a U.S.-based entity and, as a result,  we have alerted payment card issuers regarding certain MasterCard accounts that are potentially at risk.

Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette has released a statement through the team acknowledging the club failed to adhere to protocol in their signing of 17-year-old South Korean pitcher Kim Seong-min: "On behalf of the Orioles organization, I offer a sincere apology to the Korea Baseball Organization and the Korea Baseball Association for the club's unintentional breach of protocol in failing to tender a...

Two recent stories have highlighted how confidential health and patient data are at risk. First, a report from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights noted that nearly 8 million Americans were affected by almost 31,000 health information breaches in the course of a year. Alarmingly, nearly 70 percent of the investigations into data breach incidents that affected 500 people or more remain open. Second, a medical data breach of 20,000 emergency room patients at Stanford Hospital was discovered by a patient after the information had languished online for nearly a year.

An unwritten rule at every major newspaper has always been that there should be a wall between advertising and editorial, but in the June 9 issue of the Columbia Flier that rule was broken. The article on page 8, "Nelson is the new face for marketing CA" , with two very nice photographs of Columbia Association president Phil Nelson supplied to the paper by the photographer who did the ad photos, violates all rules of good journalism. The Columbia Association is a major advertiser with Patuxent Publishing, as you can see with their weekly full-page ads on the back cover of the Flier.

When a Maryland dental HMO acknowledged this week that it had accidentally posted the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of 75,000 members on its Web site, the revelation made news. But the security breach at The Dental Network is just one of more than three dozen filed so far this year with the Maryland attorney general's office, The Sun has learned. And though most of the security breaches are much smaller, they underscore how hard it is to completely protect computerized information.

An East Baltimore woman who purchased a problem-ridden house for 7 1/2 times what it had been sold for six months earlier has filed a lawsuit against the seller, alleging fraud and breach of contract.The suit by homebuyer Darlene Glover says she was duped by seller Marie Hoffman into paying $60,000 in 1997 for a house at 819 N. Kenwood Ave. in Patterson Park that Hoffman bought for $8,000 six months earlier.Filed Tuesday in Baltimore Circuit Court by Civil Justice Inc., a nonprofit legal advocacy group, the suit is the latest action targeting house "flipping" -- a practice in which real estate speculators buy substandard properties and quickly sell them at excessive prices.

Maryland crafters should check their banking statements carefully if they have recently used debit cards at Michaels Stores in Howard, Anne Arundel or Montgomery counties. These stores in Columbia, Ellicott City, Hanover, Rockville and Wheaton were among those in 20 states where PIN pads were quarantined by the company due to suspicions of tampering. A full list of Michaels stores that were impacted was posted on the company website. The chain has almost 1,000 stores across the United States.

Gamers: how do you feel about Sony's offer of free stuff after hackers accessed the PlayStation network , compromising information including credit card numbers and birthdates? According to Reuters, "Sony said on Sunday it would offer some free content, including 30 days of free membership to a premium service to existing users and in some regions pay credit card-renewal fees. Compensation would only be paid if users suffered damage, it added, without providing details. " One user in the story mentioned never trusting the network with his information again --- only using prepaid cards to access the system in the future.