HealthCare.gov logs security incidents
The Web portal used by millions to get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act has logged more than 300 cybersecurity incidents and remains vulnerable to hacking, nonpartisan congressional investigators said Wednesday.
The Government Accountability Office said none of the 316 security incidents affecting HealthCare.gov appeared to have led to the release of sensitive data such as names, birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers, and financial or other personal information.
Most of the incidents seemed to have involved probing by hackers. The incidents took place between October 2013 and March 2015.
The GAO said the administration is making progress, but it concluded that security flaws “will likely continue to jeopardize the confidentiality, integrity and availability of HealthCare.gov.”
Investigators identified weaknesses in protecting sensitive information that flows through a key part of the system called the data-services hub. Operating behind the scenes, the hub pings federal agencies to verify the personal details of consumers.
The GAO said shortcomings included insufficiently tight restrictions on “administrator privileges” that allow a user broad access throughout the system, inconsistent use of security fixes and an administrative network that was not properly secured.
The report also found “significant weaknesses” in health insurance sites operated by states, which connect to the data hub.
— Associated Press
BANKING
Libor rigging draws $1.2 million fine
A former UBS Group and Citigroup trader who was sent to prison for 11 years for rigging Libor has been ordered to pay back 880,000 pounds ($1.2 million) that a judge called the proceeds of the trader’s efforts to manipulate the benchmark rate.
Judge Jeremy Cooke determined that former trader Tom Hayes should return 35 percent of the 2.5 million pounds he earned in bonuses from the banks between 2006 and 2010.
Hayes, 36, was convicted last year of conspiring to rig the London interbank offered rate, a benchmark tied to derivatives and loans worth trillions.
While the penalty — roughly a third of the 2.5 million pounds sought by prosecutors — may be seen as a reprieve for Hayes and his family, it still means they are likely to have to sell their seven-bedroom home outside London, Hayes’s lawyer said.
Hayes was a highly successful trader who made close to 300 million pounds for UBS alone.
— Bloomberg News
ALSO IN BUSINESS
● U.S. home buyers in the West accounted for all of February’s increase in sales of new houses, a sign of a potentially uneven real estate market heading into the spring buying season. The Commerce Department says new-home sales rose 2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000. All of the increase came from a 38.5 percent surge in purchases in the West, which reversed a stiff 32.7 percent decline in January. Sales fell last month in the Northeast, Midwest and South. The median new-home sales price rose 2.6 percent from a year ago to $301,400.
● Target’s new manager of the company’s supply chain and logistics is being sued by his former employer, Amazon.com. The online retail giant said its onetime logistics chief violated a non-compete clause that prohibits him from joining a rival for at least 18 months; he left Amazon about a month ago. The suit claims that Arthur Valdez shared trade secrets during the interview process. Valdez is expected to start the new job next week. Target said Wednesday that the suit is without merit. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
● Amazon.com said Wednesday that women working for it in the United States earned 99.9 cents for every $1 that men earned doing the same jobs in 2015. Amazon was responding to activist investors pushing technology companies to close the gender pay gap.
Amazon said it hired an independent labor economist to conduct the study.
● General Mills on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected profit for its third quarter on lower costs, but revenue fell short of forecasts because of weak demand. The maker of Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and other foods reported a 5.4 percent boost in profit to $361.7 million, or 59 cents per share.The company reported an 8 percent dip in revenue in the period. It said sales in its key U.S. segment were down 7 percent on a mix of lower volume and its Green Giant divestiture.
● Duke Energy , the largest U.S. utility owner, is planning to use methane from pig and poultry waste to generate electricity at four North Carolina power plants. The company agreed to buy methane from a biogas facility that Carbon Cycle Energy plans to build in eastern North Carolina, Duke said in a statement Monday. The deal will help Duke comply with North Carolina’s renewable-energy portfolio standard, which requires utilities to use power from agricultural waste.
Date: March 23, 2016