Pfizer Alerts Employees of Data Breach
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Pfizer has been alerting 17,000 present and former employees that their names and Social Security numbers have been exposed.
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Employee-owned consumer devices used at work present a threat that security professionals must manage, analysts say.
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Mandiant introduced new incident response automation technology that promises to perform the first set of post-breach analysis tests the IT security company would provide via its breach investigation services.Having already launched several free forensics applications via its Web site, the breach consulting services provider is hoping to cash in on demand for its incident management skills with the new set of electronic evidence discovery (EED) and corporate investigation tools.Labeled as Mandiant Intelligent Response 1.0 (MIR) and targeted initially at large enterprises in the financial services, health care, and ISP verticals -- company officials contend that large customers are ready to invest in applications that could save them millions on post-breach analysis services."We think large and mid-tier enterprises have the capability to use this technology, those that are fortunate enough to have the type of people who can respond, but who might not have standing armies to do so," said Jim Hansen, chief operating officer of Mandiant. "These are difficult skills that we provide, and these tools allow customers to accelerate the response process before someone like us can get there."Hansen said that combined with his company's services, the incident forensics applications, delivered in an appliance form-factor, also extend the consulting provider's breach investigation capabilities.The faster that companies can begin the data mining and incident analysis process after a breach, the more likely they are to discover exactly what type of problem has occurred and deduce whether they might be forced to publicly report any data exposures, the expert contends.The cost of reporting data incidents -- both in terms of issuing immediate breach notifications and responding to any subsequent impact on business, including regulatory fines -- has created a market where enterprises with high-risk information and compliance concerns are ready to invest in software that may give them a leg up in the investigation process, Hansen said."This is a way to begin creating an incident response system with a full audit trail at the push of a button. [It's] something that's going to give teams a head start on the electronic data discovery process," said Hansen. "We're still doing a majority of our business answering response calls, but this product can help investigators get started."The appliance will also arm incident response teams with analysis documentation that can be submitted as part of any legal activity related to a breach or inquiries about the resulting investigation process itself, he said.The executive maintains that the set of data aggregation, analytics, and reporting tools represents a new breed of electronic forensics automation software. Rather than competing with existing discovery applications, Hansen said that MIR was built to integrate with and aggregate from those systems with which the product may be linked via its open API, Hansen said.The individual software modules residing on the Intel-based appliance, which runs on Linux, consist of an endpoint forensic agent, a controller that handles data aggregation and analysis duties, and its console, which offers a Web-based interface that can be accessed remotely over the Web.For now, MIR will only provide analysis of Windows-based systems, but Mandiant said it is already looking to build versions of the appliance that can be dropped into different environments.At $86,500, not including additional support and services costs, the MIR appliance is clearly aimed at large customers, but Hansen said that Mandiant is considering development of a cheaper, more lightweight device or software package aimed at smaller environments. The company may even create a version of the tools to be delivered via a software-as-a-service model, he said.Some industry watchers said the Mandiant system may even allow customers to stay ahead of potential incidents, shifting elements of the electronic discovery process from a reactive measure to a preventative exercise."Mandiant Intelligent Response can change the negative perception associated with rapid evidence discovery by providing a unique collaborative environment that enables remote identification, collection, analysis, and reporting of electronic evidence," said Charles Kolodgy, analyst at IDC. "By fostering precision collection, organizations can avoid gathering incorrect or incomplete data and wasting critical moments when responding to time-sensitive matters."
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Some pharmaceutical companies are telling their employees to look out for the scruffy guy in the baseball cap. The Houston Chronicle reported Saturday that at least six drug companies have released internal communications telling employees to be wary of filmmaker Michael Moore.
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Several pharmaceutical drug companies have warned their employees to look out for Michael Moore and his ambush journalism tactics, depicted in the Oscar award winnerâs films.
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(InfoWorld) - A stolen laptop at The Boeing Co. has pushed a widely watched tally of U.S. data breach victims past the 100 million mark. On Tuesday, Boeing disclosed that files containing Social Security numbers, names and home addresses of 382,000 current and former employees were compromised in early December when an unencrypted laptop was stolen from an employee's car. That disclosure pushed the total number of data breach victims on the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse Web site to 100,152,801, said Beth Givens, director of the consumer advocacy group. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has been tracking data breaches since February 2005, whenÂ ChoicePoint disclosedÂ that thieves had stolen information on 163,000 victims from the company's database. The ChoicePoint incident was remarkable because although the data broker was obligated to disclose the theft to victims living in California -- the only state with a beach notification law on the books -- it decided to notify everyone, Givens said. "That was the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that a breached entity decided to disclose the event to individuals nationwide," she said. "That was a watershed event," she added, "because other entities that had experienced breaches started disclosing the situation to individuals nationwide" Since the ChoicePoint incident, data security has been in the spotlight, andÂ breaches at the U.S. Department of Veteran's AffairsÂ and, most recently, Boeing and theÂ University of California-Los Angeles, have received national attention. Givens believes that the actual number of names that have been compromised since ChoicePoint is probably much higher than her tally. "I think the number 100 million is largely a fictional number, but what it really indicates is that this is a very significant problem," she said. She couldn't say whether all the publicity has made consumers any more secure. "It's quite obvious from the listing that we've compiled that we're in a very leaky boat when it comes to data security," she said. "I don't think that consumers can feel confident about the protection that their personal information receives."
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A Pfizer employee has exposed Social Security numbers and other personal data belonging to about 17,000 employees.
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For the third time since June, Pfizer has disclosed a data breach involving sensitive information about individuals. As many as 34,000 people were affected this time.
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Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. PFE.N is under  investigation by state attorneys general from New York and  Connecticut in connection with improper promotion of drugs for  uses other than those approved by U.S. regulators, Pfizer said  in a regulatory filing.
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And the breach goes on: Saturday's big security breach at anti-piracy firm MediaDefender isn't the only one. At least two others have surfaced, including an apparently leaked phone conversation about an earlier security problem.
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A major drugs firm has been named and shamed over "serious breaches" of the industry's code of conduct.
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Company notifys employees that a stolen laptop contained AT&T Corp.'s benefits plans data.
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But should all breaches be publicised? The Financial Services Authority (FSA) could order all regulated financial companies to immediately inform customers of data security breaches, it has said.â¦
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The vendor issued an alert to some customers, telling them to run the flawed application in order to get it fixed.
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SimWorks, an Anti-virus firm, has issued an alert informing users of a Malicious Trojan hidden inside cracked versions of the popular game, Metal Gear Solid.
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An anti-smoking drug sold by Pfizer Inc will carry more prominent warnings that patients be monitored for unusual activity including agitation, depression and suicidal behavior, the company said on Friday.
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TD Ameritrade warned customers Friday that its client database suffered a security breach, potentially putting their social security numbers and trading information at risk.