The latest data breach in the HSE has resulted in the medical records of up to 1,500 individuals being compromised.

It is understood that a private IT contractor who was supervised by a HSE staff member downloaded the records on to an unencrypted USB Key and brought the device home that night. He then later emailed the records to a mistyped email address.

An internal investigation within the HSE is said to be underway however the patients whose information has been compromised have not been informed.

A six week sentence was handed down to nineteen year old man in Liverpool.

Oliver Drage, 19 years old, had been arrested back in May 2009 when police had been investigating child sexual exploitation. Police seized his computer but were unable to access any of the data as it was encrypted with a 50 character key.

After failing to disclose the password in September he was sentenced to a six week sentence. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence to not disclose a password when requested to do so by the courts. It was reported that Police will carry on trying to crack the password used to encrypt the data.

According to Detective Sgt Neil Fowler: “Drage was previously of good character so the immediate custodial sentence handed down by the judge in this case shows just how seriously the courts take this kind of offence.”

“Computer systems are constantly advancing and the legislation used here was specifically brought in to deal with those who are using the internet to commit crime.

“It sends a robust message out to those intent on trying to mask their online criminal activities that they will be taken before the courts with the ultimate sanction, as in this case, being a custodial sentence.”

How would you feel about your browsing history being made public on a website? Don’t worry you have the option of paying around $20 to have it removed.

A new Trojan which has originated from Japan known as the Kenzero Trojan pretends to be a legitimate program but unknown to the users monitors all browsing history and makes the information availably publicly on the Internet. Hackers responsible for the Trojan post browsing history, favorites, illegally downloaded porn and clipboard content along with your name and address and other personal details onto the web. They are however kind enough to remove this information for you for a small fee. Otherwise known as ransom-ware this type of software extorts money from people.

The Trojan is reported to be spread mainly through the Winny file-sharing network which currently has close to 200 million users.