Monday News Kick Off: Court Gives Preliminary OK to $4M Heartland Settlement and Much More

Welcome to the Monday News Kick Off post on the ITAC blog. As always, we have compiled the most relevant news stories that focus on identity theft, data breaches and cyber security. This week, we offer a number of stories including news of a federal judge in Texas giving preliminary approval to the $4 million settlement of the class-action suit against Heartland Payment Systems; HHS now publishing list of all data breaches and much more.

Court Gives Preliminary OK to $4M Consumer Settlement in Heartland Case
A federal court in Texas has given preliminary approval to a $4 million settlement of a consumer class-action lawsuit against Heartland Payment Systems Inc. over the massive data breach the payment processor disclosed in January 2009. Under the proposed settlement, Heartland will pay up to $175 to individuals for out-of-pocket expenses stemming from telephone usage or postage costs tied to card cancellations and replacement, or for any unreimbursed charges resulting from unauthorized use of their cards. Read the full BusinessWeek article here.

HHS to Publish Online Listing of Health Care Data Breaches
The Health and Human Services Department has started publishing an online list of more than 60 recent breaches of private patient health care data and intends to share the data for research and investigation. Under the economic stimulus law, HHS got authority to publish breach incidents that affect 500 or more persons. Covered entities, including physicians, hospitals and other health care providers, are required to report breaches of unsecured protected health information to the department in 60 days. Read the full Examiner article here.

New State Privacy Laws Clamp Down on Data
Companies that do business in the states of Nevada, Massachusetts, and Washington are some of the first to come under the jurisdiction of new data security laws that require the use of encryption. Backup data that leaves the data center for the purpose of disaster recovery is a big concern for these companies, and SafeData, which provides options for on-site and cloud-based back up, says it can provide the necessary level of encryption for System i shops. Washington is the latest state to enact a data security and payment card law covering companies that do business with citizens in the state. The law, which was signed into law in early April and goes into effect July 1, requires companies that originate or process debit or credit card transactions to take “reasonable steps” to prevent a data breach. Experts say this requires the use of encryption technology. Read the full IT Jungle article here.

Is The DC Region Ready for a Cybersecurity Corridor?
Telecommunications companies and government contractors dominate the Dulles Toll Road corridor in Virginia, and biotechnology firms line the corridor along Interstate 270 in Maryland. What’s next? Walter P. Havenstein, chief executive of SAIC, predicts it could be a cybersecurity corridor along the Interstate 95 corridor between Washington and Baltimore. The government is doing its part by relocating the Defense Information Systems Agency from Falls Church to Fort Meade, Md. and establishing U.S. Cyber Command and the Navy’s U.S. Fleet Cyber Command at Fort Meade. The base, just south of Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport, is already home to the National Security Agency. Read the full Washington Post story here.

White House Sees No Cyber Attack on Wall Street
The White House’s homeland security and counterterrorism adviser says there is no evidence that a cyber attack was behind the chaos that shook Wall Street last Thursday. John Brennan told “Fox News Sunday” that officials have uncovered no links suggesting that cyber attacks caused turbulence that sent the Dow Jones industrials plunging almost 1,000 points before staging a partial recovery at the end of the day. The market already was weak because of the spreading European debt crisis. Some have speculated that a typographical error might have triggered the massive computerized sell-off. Read the full AP story here.

Happy Monday!