EPA data breach highlights worrying trend

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.csoonline.com/article/713031/epa-data-breach-highlights-worrying-trend

By Taylor Armerding
CSO
August 07, 2012

In the war over government data security, the statistics indicate the 
bad guys are winning. And some security experts say any hope of 
reversing that trend will take "a whole new paradigm" in IT security.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported last week that 
federal data breaches involving unauthorized disclosures of personally 
identifiable information increased by 19%, or about 13,000 to 15,500, 
from 2010 to 2011.

At least some of the time, victims of those breaches are being left in 
the dark about it for months. About 123,000 Thrift Savings Plan 
participants whose personal information was compromised in a July 2011 
breach were not notified until this past May.

That is not the only instance. The Washington Business Journal reported 
that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waited until last 
week to notify 5,100 employees and 2,700 "other individuals" of a data 
security breach last March that exposed their Social Security numbers 
and banking information.

[...]