Texas Lottery suffers computer security breach

Comment #10

mjwinsmith — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:14:09 GMT

You hit the nail right on the head.

Comment #9

Omniscient — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:44:52 GMT

This guy needs to go to jail , plain and simple. I'm under the suspiscion that he's holding this information for blackmail purposes or wants some kind of compensation for 'sensitive' information against the lottery for firing him. When people get fired or know they are going to get the axe, they may feel that after years of loyal service, they are being betrayed and might become spiteful. He must have known in advance that he was going to be 'let go' from his job prior and began that copying of... [ More ]

Comment #8

time*treat — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:09:41 GMT

Another fine example of why these databases shouldn't exist in the first place.

Why would the lottery keep data on past winners for years? Even for tax purposes that info should not exist after a year or two.

Two wrongs make a catastrophe.

Comment #7

Drivedabizness — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:13:29 GMT

The info on winners themselves, etc., did not come from the gaming system but from internal lottery accounting systems.

Clearly, those internal systems were not as secure as they needed to be.

I'm disappointed with the Lotetry response. Clearly som eimprovements need to be made - if there were procedures in place to prevent this their employee was able to get around them. Either way, they need to make changes.

This sounds like a helluva lot more than sample work product t... [ More ]

Comment #6

LottoL — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:35:29 GMT

State databases are not very secure!

Too many people (State personnel, Vendor personnel, Contractors, etc.)

have confidential access to alot of data.

Not to mention all those companies putting together their own databases

using public information. Public or Private, there are alot of people who

have access to personal and private information.

Comment #5

spy153 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:06:09 GMT

Let me first say, I am not advocating his behavior., nor do I think his intentions were on the up and up. However, there is another possible reason he took the information. It may be the only proof he has to show for something he discovered about the lottery. Just a thought.

Comment #4

L J1 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:51:09 GMT

Wow! A very shocking story. Hope all those people don't have to pay for his mistake.

Comment #3

diamondpalace — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:36:57 GMT

Maybe he wanted to send out a farewell card to the people after leaving the job

Comment #2

ThatScaryChick — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:25:14 GMT

I agree. There was no reason whatsoever, for this guy to copy confidential information onto disks after he was fired. No reason. He claims he wanted the information for possible future reference as a programmer at other state agencies. Sorry, but bullcrap. That personal information was not given to him to use and I am sure he was going to use it for criminal acts. I hope they throw the book at this guy.

Comment #1

MaddMike51 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:45:34 GMT

Maybe he hasn't committed fraud with the information that he stole,but he still stole the information.It wasn't his to take,that makes him a thief and he should be charged with theft and sent to prison.The only state agency he should be allowed to work for in the future is the state prison system....on the other side of the bars

Texas Lottery suffers computer security breach

Lottery Post — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:00:01 GMT

Sensitive personal data on 89,000 players copied by former employee

The Texas Lottery Commission is alerting tens of thousands of lottery winners that they're on a not-so-lucky list.

More than 89,000 lottery winners are being notified that sensitive information about them including their names, Social Security numbers, addresses and prize amounts were taken from the agency without permission by a former employee.

The 39-year-old computer analyst, who left the state commission last year... [ More ]