Article Views: 221 Articl= Hackers Crack FAABy Roy Mark=0A2009-02-10 =0A=0AArticle Views: 221=0AArticl= e Rating: / 1 =0A=0A =0A=0A Rate This Article: =0APoor Best = =0AAdd This Article To: =0A Digg this=0A=0A Del.icio.us=0A=0A Slashdot= =0A=0A Y! My Web=0A=0A E-mail=0A=0A Print=0A Furl=0A=0A Google=0A=0A = Simpy=0A=0A Spurl!=0A=0A PDF Version=0A =0AThe personal information of= =0Amore than 45,000 Federal Aviation Agency employees and retirees exposed= =0Ato possible identity theft. FAA reports hacked server was not connected= =0Ato air traffic control system or any other FAA operational system.=0AJus= t a day after President Obama ordered a comprehensive review of the governm= ent's cyber security systems,=0Athe FAA (Federal Aviation Agency) reported = Feb. 10 hackers illegally=0Aaccessed an agency computer and stole employee = personal identity=0Ainformation. The FAA said in a statement the hacked ser= ver was not=0Aconnected to the operation of=0Athe air traffic control syste= m or any other FAA operational system.=0A=0AAccording to the FAA, two of th= e 48 files on the breached computer server contained=0Apersonal information= about more than 45,000 FAA employees and retirees=0Awho were on the FAA=A2= s rolls as of the first week of February 2006. All affected employees will= =0Areceive individual letters to notify them about the breach.=0A=0A"The FA= A is moving quickly to prevent any similar incidents and has=0Aidentified i= mmediate steps as well as longer-term measures to further=0Aprotect persona= l information," stated the FAA. "The agency is also providing a toll-free= =0Anumber and information on the employee website for those who believe=0At= hey may be affected by the breach."=0A=0AThe FAA did not state when the bre= ached occurred. The FAA was not immediately available for further comment.= =0A=0AThe number of reported data breaches in the United States jumped near= ly 50 percent in 2008, according to the ITRC (Identity Theft Resource Cente= r). All totaled, there were 656 breaches reported last=0Ayear, up from 446 = in 2007. The breaches led to nearly 35.7 million records being exposed. =0A= =0AAccording to the IRTC, only=0A2.4 percent of all the data breaches had= =0Athe information secured by encryption or other strong protection=0Ametho= ds. Just 8.5 percent had the exposed data protected by passwords.=0A"Our se= nse is that two things are happening - the criminal=0Apopulation is stealin= g more data from companies and that we are hearing=0Amore about the breache= s," the ITRC said in a statement. "ITRC has been=0Atracking breaches since = 2001. One thing we absolutely can say is that=0A[data breaches are] not a n= ew problem."Heading Obama's 60-day cyber security review will be Melissa Ha= thaway, who served as the cyber security coordinator executive under Mike M= cConnell,former President Bush's Director of National Intelligence. The rev= iew will cover all of the government's cyber security plans, programs and a= ctivities.Resource Library: =0A =0A"The national security and economic hea= lth of the United States=0Adepend on the security, stability and integrity = of our nation's=0Acyberspace, both in the public and private sectors," John= Brennan, assistant to the president for Counterterrorism and Homeland Secu= rity, said in a White House statement. "The President is=0Aconfident that w= e can protect our nation's critical cyber=0Ainfrastructure while at the sam= e time adhering to the rule of law and=0Asafeguarding privacy rights and ci= vil liberties." <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".