Catalin Cimpanu reports: A new ransomware gang launched into operation this week, claiming to combine the best features of the now-defunct Darkside and REvil ransomware groups, Recorded Future analysts have discovered. Named BlackMatter, the group is currently recruiting affiliates (collaborators) through ads posted on two cybercrime forums named Exploit and XSS. Read more on The Record.
Author: Dissent
Au: Bendigo cyber menace Dean Poot pleads guilty to attacking Victoria Police phone lines
Serena Seyfort and Paul Shapiro report: A Bendigo computer hacker disrupted police phone lines with menacing messages including a ridiculous claim cops are “international scammers”. Dean Poot, 30, pleaded guilty in the county Court on Wednesday to charges including unauthorised impairment of electronic communication. Poot, unemployed, used various aliases, stolen identity information, bogus credit cards…
Student private information breached in Fairfax County Public Schools
Remember last year and earlier this year when we covered a ransomware attack on Fairfax County Public Schools by Maze that impacted more than 170,000 people? Well, there’s no need to hack when it’s leaking due to human error or failure to adhere to federal law protecting students’ education records. Rick Horner reports: Fairfax County…
UC San Diego Health announces data breach impacting patients, employees, and students
From their substitute notice of July 27, 2021: To the UC San Diego Health community: UC San Diego Health recently experienced a security event involving unauthorized access to some employee email accounts. This notice provides up-to-date information on what happened and what we are doing. When UC San Diego Health discovered the issue, we terminated…
Former Intelligence Analyst Sentenced to 45 Months in Prison for Disclosing Classified Information to Reporter
A Tennessee man was sentenced today to 45 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for illegally obtaining classified national defense information and disclosing it to a reporter. According to court documents, Daniel Everette Hale, 33, of Nashville, began communicating with a reporter beginning in April 2013 while enlisted in the U.S….
PA: Allegheny Intermediate Unit notifying employees, dependents, and vendors about ransomware incident
Update and possible correction: this may be a different breach than the one first reported in February 2020. The post below has been edited to reflect that while I attempt to verify if this was a second incident or not. Yesterday, AIU issued a press release about an incident they say they discovered in January…