"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power." - Thomas Jefferson 1820

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Friday, June 24, 2011

Arizona Department of Public Safety Data Information Hacked. Is Any Data Safe from Hackers?


Will your child's personal "educational" data be safe? Should FERPA laws be relaxed to allow invasive information on your family shared with federal agencies?

Arne Duncan promises this information will be safeguarded.

Read what happened in Arizona to Department of Public Safety employees' data:

Computer experts are trying to determine how an international group of hackers broke into the Arizona Department of Public Safety's computers on Thursday and downloaded and released hundreds of law-enforcement files.

The DPS files, posted on LulzSec's website, include personal information about officers and numerous documents ranging from routine alerts from out-of-state police agencies to videos and photos about the hazards of police work and operations of drug gangs. The names of the files are as innocuous as "resume" and "evaluation form" and as provocative as "cartel leader threatens deadly force on U.S. police."

In its Web posting, the group said the files were primarily related to U.S. Border Patrol and counterterrorism operations.

The hackers vowed to release more classified documents each week as a way to embarrass authorities and sabotage their work.

Harrison said the release of officers' personal information is alarming. This information included the names of eight officers, their spouses' names, cellphone numbers and addresses.

"When you put out personal information, you don't know what kind of people will respond," Harrison said, noting that another officer was attacked at his home Thursday morning in an unrelated incident. (emphasis added)


With all due respect, Arne Duncan promises the system will be safeguarded, but this incident illustrates the fallacy that any personal data is totally safeguarded from possible malevolent hacking.





1 comment:

  1. No information is safe online or even those stored in computers/hard drives. That is the reason why you have to make multiple encrypted copies of it.

    document scanning services

    ReplyDelete

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