Information Security News: FWD: [attrition] Commentary: Data Loss "Unplugged"

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://attrition.org/dataloss/dlunplugged.html

Data Loss "Unplugged"
Wed Oct 24 23:33:36 EDT 2007
Lyger

Since July 1, 2005, attrition.org has "officially" been tracking 
incidents regarding the theft, loss, or exposure of personally 
identifiable information (PII). In the months since the creation of the 
Data Loss web page, Data Loss Mail List, and Data Loss Database (Open 
Source) (aka "DLDOS"), we have been asked many questions about not only 
why we maintain these resources but also about what criteria we use to 
determine the inclusion of events into the mail list, web page, and 
database. For anyone interested, we feel that we should try to clarify 
our "requirements" and answer any questions that may arise.

First, we can't "report" what we don't know. In most cases, we will only 
include events that are reported by a legitimate media source. While we 
could include blog rumors and tips via email from unverified sources, we 
feel that it's best to have a verifiable and reputable source of 
information in case there are any questions or concerns regarding the 
validity of the information contained in our resources. If an event 
isn't covered by a reputable media source, there's a good chance we may 
not include it in our resources. We do understand that work by others 
such as Chris Walsh, who finds additional breaches through Freedom Of 
Information Act (FOIA) requests, will uncover breaches not normally 
reported by media outlets, but attrition.org simply doesn't have the 
resources to actively pursue such additional information. We applaud 
Chris for his efforts and hope that he continues to keep up with his 
endeavors.

[...]


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