WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and its Office of Inspector General today announced the recovery of $512,138,478 in fraudulent CARES Act funds to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. This marks the second major recovery from the Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance, bringing the total of funds recovered from the state to more than $1 billion.
“Today’s return of hard-earned American taxpayer dollars represents more than a financial recovery – it reinforces our commitment to protecting American workers and the programs they depend on,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. “This result was made possible through close coordination with the department’s Office of Inspector General. Together, we are restoring trust and integrity in these programs and putting money back where it belongs – in the pockets of hardworking Americans.”
These recoveries are the direct…
IT & DATA SECURITY (MITIGATING THE “INSIDER THREAT”)
As seen in the TD Bank case, an employee with too much “access” can sell your customer data to syndicates.
- Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Employees should only have access to the specific folders and databases required for their current task.
- Access Revocation: Have a “Termination Checklist” that ensures all digital access (Email, VPN, Banking) is revoked within 60 minutes of an employee resigning or being dismissed.
- System Logs & Audit Trails: Enable “Read/Write Logging” on your server. If a customer’s data is leaked, you need to know exactly which login accessed that record and at what time.
- Encryption at Rest: Ensure that sensitive files (like your customer ID numbers or payroll spreadsheets) are encrypted so that if a staff member copies them to a USB, they cannot be read.