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IT Worker Fired After Massive Georgia Data Breach Speaks Out (ajc.com)
McGruber writes: On November 17, two Georgia women filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp had released the Social Security numbers, birthdates, Drivers License numbers and other private information of all registered voters in Georgia. After the lawsuit was filed, Secretary Kemp posted an official notice of the breach on his website as required by Georgia state law.
Secretary Kemp also sent a private letter to Georgia lawmakers describing how the breach happened. In the letter, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kemp said his office learned of the foul-up on Nov. 13 — four days before any public acknowledgment of the problem. In that private letter to Georgia lawmakers, Kemp also stated that he fired the IT worker who had inadvertently added the personal data including Social Security numbers and birth dates to the public statewide voter file.
Now that fired IT worker, longtime state programmer Gary Cooley, has told the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper that he did not actually have the security access necessary to add millions of Social Security numbers and birth dates to the data file that was released to the public. While Cooley does acknowledge a role in the gaffe, he also outlined a more complicated series of missteps and miscommunications both within Kemp's office and with PCC Technology Group, an outside vendor tasked with managing voter data for the state.
Secretary Kemp also sent a private letter to Georgia lawmakers describing how the breach happened. In the letter, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kemp said his office learned of the foul-up on Nov. 13 — four days before any public acknowledgment of the problem. In that private letter to Georgia lawmakers, Kemp also stated that he fired the IT worker who had inadvertently added the personal data including Social Security numbers and birth dates to the public statewide voter file.
Now that fired IT worker, longtime state programmer Gary Cooley, has told the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper that he did not actually have the security access necessary to add millions of Social Security numbers and birth dates to the data file that was released to the public. While Cooley does acknowledge a role in the gaffe, he also outlined a more complicated series of missteps and miscommunications both within Kemp's office and with PCC Technology Group, an outside vendor tasked with managing voter data for the state.
It's not every day a data breach speaks out.
His career was over when he got tagged for causing a huge data breach. At least this way he's unemployable for something he actually did.