Hacker access info on donors to charities
Hackers obtained access last month to the e-mail addresses and passwords of thousands of donors to 92 charities that use online database software and services from Convio Inc.
Among the charities are CARE and the American Museum of Natural History.
There is no evidence that anyone has used the information to engage in fraud, but several charities have notified donors of the breach and advised them to consider changing passwords if they use the same password for other purposes.
Convio, of Austin, Texas, discovered the breach Nov. 1 and told clients about it two days later, said spokesman Tad Druart. About a week later, the company notified an additional 62 nonprofit groups, he said.
Ted Kennedy to write memoirs
NEW YORK — The memoirs of Sen. Edward Kennedy have been acquired by an imprint of the Hachette Book Group USA.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but a publishing official with knowledge of the negotiations said Monday that the agreement was comparable to the $8 million Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton received for “Living History” and the $9 million former British Prime Minister Tony Blair reportedly will get for his planned memoir. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, a standard industry practice.
The book is tentatively scheduled to come out in 2010.
Two stuntmen burned on film set
LOS ANGELES — An accident on the set of Adam Sandler’s latest comedy, “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan,” burned two stuntmen, officials said Monday.
One person was burned on his hands and legs and another on his back during filming on the Universal Studios back lot, said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Sam Padilla. Both were taken to a hospital in moderate condition, he said.
Gates Foundation takes on polio
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Monday that it plans to give $100 million to Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. It is the foundation’s largest such grant. Rotary said it would match the grant.
Polio, which can cause paralysis and death, is spread person- to-person or through contaminated water. Since the eradication campaign began in 1988, annual cases have fallen by more than 99 percent. Just 735 cases worldwide have been detected this year through Nov. 20, including new outbreaks in seven nations that previously had eliminated the disease.
Philanthropist’s son indicted
NEW YORK — The son of philanthropist Brooke Astor and his former lawyer have been indicted on charges apparently stemming from their handling of the late socialite’s $198 million estate, an attorney for the lawyer said Monday.
Michael Ross, attorney for Francis X. Morrissey Jr., said the Manhattan prosecutor’s office informed him of the indictments against Morrissey and Anthony Marshall. Ross said that the charges are sealed and that he doesn’t know what they were.
Marshall, 83, is at the center of a family feud that became public about a year before Astor’s death in August at age 105. His son, Philip Marshall, claimed his father was enriching himself at the expense of Astor’s estate and allowing his grandmother to live in squalor.
Anthony Marshall denied it, but he agreed in October 2006 to step aside as his mother’s guardian.
A grand jury has heard testimony for almost a month.
