Data Security

Emails spoofed to look like they are coming from Delta Airlines to confirm a ticket purchase are attempting to infect users with a trojan.

Netezza, makers of data management products, has acquired database auditing and monitoring firm Tizor Systems for $3.1 million, according to a filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. The deal will enable Netezza users "to track, store and perform forensic analysis" to help them more readily meet compliance demands, the company said in a release. — DK

Visa has confirmed that yet another payment processor has been hit by hackers.

A lawyer specializing in data security has been appointed chief privacy officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

A government travel website used by a dozen federal agencies has been hacked and remains shuttered.

Bank of New York Mellon has agreed to pay the state of Connecticut $150,000 and extend credit monitoring for victims another year, to a total of 36 months, as a result of a data breach reported last April that affected 600,000 residents of the Constitution State. An unencrypted backup tape holding the personal information of about 4.5 million bank customers disappeared three months earlier while in possession of a third-party vendor. Connecticut officials were outraged victims didn't learn about the incident sooner. The settlement was announced earlier this month. — DK

Attacks on government computer networks increased sharply in 2008, but the new administration's focus on cybersecurity may help thwart future attacks.