UK Internet and cable services provider BT is being investigated by The UK Information Commissioner Office (ICO) after claims that its email system exposes user credentials. The company has defended itself, saying that it tested security issues before rolling out the new mail system, and has not received any data breach reports. As part of the investigation, ICO is examining BT's data practices while it was in the process of shifting customer email accounts from a Yahoo-based system to its in-house system developed by Openwave Messaging.

An Army combat commander, acting on his own authority, sent a spam email to the inboxes of a small group of U.S. Army employees last month, in order to test their reactions. The email warned of a security breach in the recipient's federal retirement plans and encouraged them to log in and check their accounts. Rather than raise awareness of phishing emails, the email went viral. It was forwarded to thousands of people at the Defense Department, the FBI, Customs and Border Protection, the Labor Department and other agencies.

The state of Wisconsin has warned consumers that fake eviction notice emails have been circulating to residents of the state. The spam emails claim that the recipient will be kicked out of their homes "due to multiple violations." Email recipients are instructed to download an email attachment to read the violations. The attachment contains malware, and should not be downloaded.

ExactTarget's Chief Financial Officer Steve Collins and Chief Administrative Officer Traci Dolan have left the company. According to company spokesman Mitch Frazier, both executives left earlier this year. The news comes on the heels of the company's $2.5 billion acquisition by Salesforce.com last July. Dolan and Collins were among six top executives that split a $92.5 million payout after the acquisition. They were not the first to leave. Chief Marketing Officer Tim Kopp left the company in December.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) has capitalized on the popularity of "March Madness" to push through a federal email privacy law update. "Ever think Eric Holder's March Madness bracket looked a lot like yours?" he wrote to members of Congress, playing on the fact that it is currently not illegal for law enforcement to read someone else's email with a warrant. "Stop the madness, cosponsor the Email Privacy Act!" The Email Privacy Act would update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

Saatchi & Saatchi Italy has used an email to help develop a spot for CoorDown, Italy's national organization for people with Down syndrome. The email was sent to the organization by a pregnant mother who had learned her unborn son had the genetic disorder, and asked, "What kind of life will my child have?" The ad is a response to this question from 15 people with Down syndrome addressing the joys and the challenges in store. "Everyone has the right to be happy," is the spot's on-screen tagline.

New Zealand telecom system Xtra has plans to hinder access to customer email accounts beginning on Monday until they change their email security settings. After experiencing a number of security issues, the Telecom is requiring an additional layer of security on Xtra email, which is powered by Yahoo. The new encryption setting will make email more secure specifically on public Wifi connections. This new layer will affect about a third of customers who use third party clients such as Microsoft Outlook or Android devices to check their email.

After a number of miscommunications and failed project, Klick Health banned email in the workplace and instead implemented a system in which tasks were doled out through virtual tickets. The process led the company to discover a treasure trove of data about employee interactions and began to tap this information for insights about workflow. By looking at the relationships among different departments and tickets and the like, the company began to understand their team's "digital body language," which helped flag issues before they led to problems.

Nine plaintiffs have brought a federal lawsuit against Google claiming that the online giant violated their privacy by scanning the contents of millions of email messages sent and received by students that used Google's Apps for Education tools. The suit alleges that Google crossed a "creepy line" by using the data to build users profiles which were used to send targeted marketing.

A New Zealand citizen that works on an oil rig off of Vietnam sent an email to authorities claiming that he thinks he saw the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 crash. Mike McKay wrote in the email, "I believe I saw the Malaysian Airlines [sic] plane go down. The timing is right." Authorities have responded to the email by expanding their search area to include the new location.