Amid dispute, Jefferson Parish firefighter information posted to web
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
11/12/08
Organization:
Jefferson Parish (LA)
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
The Ehrhardt Group
Location:
Jefferson Parish, Louisianna
Victims:
Firefighters
Number Affected:
"as many as 100"
Types of Data:
Social Security numbers
Breach Description:
"A public relations firm hired by Jefferson Parish government briefly posted the Social Security numbers of many east bank firefighters on a public Web site last week."
Reference URL:
The Times-Picayune
Report Credit:
Richard Rainey, The Times-Picayune
Response:
From the online source cited above:
A public relations firm hired by Jefferson Parish government briefly posted the Social Security numbers of many east bank firefighters on a public Web site last week.
In response, the firefighters union wants the parish to finance at least a year's monitoring firefighters' credit reports for signs of identity theft.
[Evan] Seems like a reasonable request, although not as effective as some people might think.
Parish President Aaron Broussard's administration called the incident a clerical error that was corrected as soon as it was discovered.
"We did that by accident. It was an error, and it was quickly rectified," said Mickey Landry, an attorney for the administration.
[Evan] It sounds as though the mistake was made by Jefferson Parish personnel and not the pubic relations firm. I suspect that the parish provided the files to be posted and included the Excel spreadsheet containing sensitive information.
The gaffe occurred Friday, according to a parish statement, and the Social Security numbers were displayed for just a few hours.
The public relations firm, The Ehrhardt Group, was updating a Web site that the Broussard administration set up to illustrate its side of its dispute with the firefighters union.
[Evan] The dispute is between Jefferson Parish and the Jefferson Fire Fighters Association. The union has their web site, so now Jefferson Parish needs theirs. Obviously there is a problem when you cross a line a put someone's personal information in jeopardy.
Landry said the Social Security numbers of as many as 100 firefighters were published on the site.
They were in a hidden column of an Excel spreadsheet, he said.
[Evan] There is still a spreadsheet named "firefighters-salaries.xls" on the JEFFERSON PARISH FIRE FACTS site (the Jefferson Parish side of the dispute), but now it only contains salary numbers without any identifiers.
He said the exposed numbers were not matched to any correct names, addresses or employee identification numbers.
Unless the parish pays for credit monitoring, said Jefferson Parish Firefighters Association president Bob Burkett, said the union might sue. Again.
[Evan] Ugh! Another point of dispute.
"If they refuse to assist us in righting the wrong, then we would be forced to do that," Burkett said.
The administration and the union have been at each other's throats for the better part of two years.
Commentary:
Wow! Things are not all happy in Jefferson Parish, are they?
Jefferson Parish and the site they use to present their side; JEFFERSON PARISH FIRE FACTS
The Jefferson Fire Fighters Association and the site they use to present their side; Jefferson Fire Fighters Association
And now we have the posting of personal information to the internet. I don't think that this will help either cause too much. I am sure that there are some people who question whether this was a mistake on the part of the Parish or something a little more. Either way, how disturbing.
The sooner both sides come to an agreement on things, the better off they will all be (my non-partisan, political opinion, LOL). I guess it keeps the lawyers employed.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:11/12/08
Organization:
Jefferson Parish (LA)
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
The Ehrhardt Group
Location:
Jefferson Parish, Louisianna
Victims:
Firefighters
Number Affected:
"as many as 100"
Types of Data:
Social Security numbers
Breach Description:
"A public relations firm hired by Jefferson Parish government briefly posted the Social Security numbers of many east bank firefighters on a public Web site last week."
Reference URL:
The Times-Picayune
Report Credit:
Richard Rainey, The Times-Picayune
Response:
From the online source cited above:
A public relations firm hired by Jefferson Parish government briefly posted the Social Security numbers of many east bank firefighters on a public Web site last week.
In response, the firefighters union wants the parish to finance at least a year's monitoring firefighters' credit reports for signs of identity theft.
[Evan] Seems like a reasonable request, although not as effective as some people might think.
Parish President Aaron Broussard's administration called the incident a clerical error that was corrected as soon as it was discovered.
"We did that by accident. It was an error, and it was quickly rectified," said Mickey Landry, an attorney for the administration.
[Evan] It sounds as though the mistake was made by Jefferson Parish personnel and not the pubic relations firm. I suspect that the parish provided the files to be posted and included the Excel spreadsheet containing sensitive information.
The gaffe occurred Friday, according to a parish statement, and the Social Security numbers were displayed for just a few hours.
The public relations firm, The Ehrhardt Group, was updating a Web site that the Broussard administration set up to illustrate its side of its dispute with the firefighters union.
[Evan] The dispute is between Jefferson Parish and the Jefferson Fire Fighters Association. The union has their web site, so now Jefferson Parish needs theirs. Obviously there is a problem when you cross a line a put someone's personal information in jeopardy.
Landry said the Social Security numbers of as many as 100 firefighters were published on the site.
They were in a hidden column of an Excel spreadsheet, he said.
[Evan] There is still a spreadsheet named "firefighters-salaries.xls" on the JEFFERSON PARISH FIRE FACTS site (the Jefferson Parish side of the dispute), but now it only contains salary numbers without any identifiers.
He said the exposed numbers were not matched to any correct names, addresses or employee identification numbers.
Unless the parish pays for credit monitoring, said Jefferson Parish Firefighters Association president Bob Burkett, said the union might sue. Again.
[Evan] Ugh! Another point of dispute.
"If they refuse to assist us in righting the wrong, then we would be forced to do that," Burkett said.
The administration and the union have been at each other's throats for the better part of two years.
Commentary:
Wow! Things are not all happy in Jefferson Parish, are they?
Jefferson Parish and the site they use to present their side; JEFFERSON PARISH FIRE FACTS
The Jefferson Fire Fighters Association and the site they use to present their side; Jefferson Fire Fighters Association
And now we have the posting of personal information to the internet. I don't think that this will help either cause too much. I am sure that there are some people who question whether this was a mistake on the part of the Parish or something a little more. Either way, how disturbing.
The sooner both sides come to an agreement on things, the better off they will all be (my non-partisan, political opinion, LOL). I guess it keeps the lawyers employed.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
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