A data breach impacting about 4.9 million active and retired U.S. military personnel was disclosed last week by healthcare system TRICARE. Sensitive information including Social Security numbers, names, addresses, phone numbers and personal health data for these 4.9 million individuals may be compromised because backup tapes containing the date went missing recently., it said. TRICARE downplayed the issue, saying the risk of the data being misused was low "since retrieving the data on the tapes would require knowledge of and access to specific hardware and software and knowledge of the system and data structure." Sounds like classic Mad Magazine Alfred E. Neuman "What - me worry?" stuff  you might hear…

Call it the "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club" scam, but out of the United Kingdom last week says perhaps as many as 200,000 people have been victims of online romance scams. The research from the UK's University of Leicester found that 52% of people surveyed online  had heard of the online romance scam when it was explained to them and that one in every 50 online adults know someone personally who has fallen victim to it. This romance fraud involves cultivating a victim with lies in order to get money. The scams occur worldwide, with the Army Times newspaper detailing how this types of scams target soldiers, too.

NAC saves University of North Carolina money, keeps illegal file sharing in check

Network access control (NAC) is saving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $40,000 per year by keeping students from illegally using . When the school's Enterasys NAC agents discover any of about a dozen such apps like BitTorrent and LimeWire, a popup warns against using them to violate copyright laws by downloading copyrighted music, for instance.

If the students uninstall the app, they get access to the dorm network. Or they can keep the application installed and use it over the network so long as they digitally sign a statement that they understand that misusing it is illegal and agree not to do so, says Jim Gogan, director of networking at the university.  If they misuse it anyway, they get reported to the dean of students and could face charges in student honor court, he says.