Companies that allow employees to telecommute must address the cybersecurity risks that come with it, according to a new study by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), an advocacy group focused on privacy and security, and Ernst & Young. The study results were reported by ITWorld.com.

The report did not deem telecommuting more risky than working in an office, but said telecommuting presented different risks. For example, because many telecommuters use their own computers, company information is subjected to data breaches, and many companies don’t have comprehensive telecommuting polices or restrict telecommuters from accessing data they don’t need for their jobs.

The study lists several recommendations for companies to both implement and avoid when allowing telecommuters, including the following:
1. Create telecommuting policies and training for everyone who telecommutes, not just full-time teleworkers.
2. Limit employee access to information based on their need to do their jobs and the organization’s ability to monitor employee activities.
3. Provide telecommuters with clear guidance on the use and disposal of paper records.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that rap star DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, has been accused of using a false identity to avoid paying hospital medical expenses.

Simmons was charged in Arizona with one count of theft and one count of stealing someone else’s identity. Authorities alleged that Simmons gave medical officials the fake name of Troy Jones while receiving treatment for pneumonia at a medical clinic in April. They also claim he failed to pay his $7,500 bill.

A new study from the University of Michigan about security problems with financial Web sites found that banks are failing to protect customer data. In fact, 75 percent of the Web sites of more than 200 financial institutions were found to have at least one design flaw that could put customer data at risk.

According to CNET.com, Atul Prakash, a professor in the university’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and two doctoral students examined 214 financial institutions in 2006. They found that every single one of them, including sites from some of the largest banks, had at least one flaw, stemming from the flow and layout of the pages, that can’t be fixed with a software patch, like many vulnerabilities and bugs can.

For example, nearly half of the banks placed secure login boxes on insecure pages, putting customers at risk of hitting spoofed pages.

Fifty-five percent of the sites were found to have contact information and security advice on insecure pages, which could allow an attacker to change an address or phone number that could be used to gather customer information.

The Associated Press reports that Ashley Dupre, the call girl best known for her role the scandal that led to the resignation of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s career, has been charged with identity theft.

Dupre used a stolen driver’s license to appear on a “Girls Gone Wild” video. Now the woman whose driver’s license she used, Amber Arpaio, has filed a lawsuit against Dupre, requesting unspecified monetary compensation for defamation and invasion of privacy.

Arpaio said she doesn’t know Dupre and has no idea how she got hold of her license.

Arpaio is also suing “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joseph Francis.

Identity theft experts at The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) said that the number of data breach have reached a record high, according to a Washington Post article. Between January 1 and June 27 this year, the total number of data breaches recorded by the ITRC is 342, more than 69% greater than the same time period in 2007.

The Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego tracked 342 data breach reports during the survey period. More than one-third of the reports came from businesses, a 27 percent increase over business breaches for all of 2007.

The center found that data breaches among health-care providers and banks also increased. They now account for 15 percent and 10 percent of the breaches, respectively. Breaches from educational institutions, government entities and the military declined for the third year in a row, the center found.