Ride the Lightning
Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
Data Breach at Santa's Workshop
December 1, 2011
We all know that the healthcare sector has been the most breached industry in 2011. It has experienced 170 breaches out of the total 480 for 2011 as chronicled on PrivacyRights.org. On October 26, I wrote about a Maryland law firm losing medical data of 161 patients in a malpractice suit because the backup hard drive was left on a light rail car. Data breaches have become an everyday occurrence but this is by far the most egregious. I learned from a very cleverly crafted press release on EON that Santa’s workshop had been breached and the naughty/nice list databases had been hacked. My granddaughter Samantha would be truly heartbroken if she were old enough to know just what had happened. In a nutshell, taken from the article, this is what was stolen:
- Street addresses of all homes scheduled to be visited by Santa Claus on Christmas Eve and the order of delivery.
- Top secret and proprietary travel routes and delivery methodologies detailing how Santa accomplishes the legendary annual feat.
- Production plans from Santa’s Workshop including the top secret list of the most popular toys and other presents for 2012.
- Payroll data for all of Santa’s existing and former employees, including names, salaries, social security numbers, bank account numbers and retirement savings plan information.
- Santa’s famous Naughty/Nice list database including names, home addresses, customer notes indicating what they want for Christmas and corresponding shopping patterns and the proprietary classification methodology used by Santa Claus in determining who is placed on which list and why.
To find out how Mrs. Claus, COO for Santa’s Workshop, reacted and who the primary suspects are, read the entire article here.
Hats off to the author. ‘Tis the season.
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