Ionut Ilascu reports: Security researchers are warning that patching critical vulnerabilities allowing access to the network is insufficient to defend against ransomware attacks. Some gangs are exploiting the flaws to plan a backdoor while the window of opportunity exists and may return long after the victim applied the necessary security updates. One case is a…
Author: Dissent
A Police App Exposed Secret Details About Raids and Suspects
Dhruv Mehrotra reports: Last September, law enforcement agents from five counties in Southern California coordinated an operation to investigate, raid, and arrest more than 600 suspected sex offenders. The mission, Operation Protect the Innocent, was one of the largest such raids in years, involving over 64 agencies. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, it was coordinated…
SEC sues Covington law firm for names of 300 clients caught up in hack
Andrew Goudsward reports: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sued law firm Covington & Burling for details about nearly 300 of the firm’s clientsd whose information was accessed or stolen by hackers in a previously undisclosed cyberattack, court documents show. Hackers associated with the Hafnium cyber-espionage group, which has alleged ties to the Chinese…
Zurich Japan hit by data breach with 750,000 users’ info stolen; Aflac Insurance also hit
Switzerland Times reports that Zurich Japan auto insurance was the victim of a cyberattack. Media reports on Monday reported the outflow of data from 2.6 million customers from the East Asian country. In fact, data from 757,463 former customers of a local car insurance product are affected, as the insurance group specified to AWP on…
Ransomware attack exposes California transit giant’s sensitive data
Matt Kapko reports: A ransomware attack against San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit exposed highly sensitive and personal data after a threat group leaked the records Friday. The nation’s fifth-largest transit system by ridership, and largest in California, remains operational. Vice Society, a prolific ransomware group, claimed responsibility for the attack on Friday when it…
Guardian confirms it was hit by ransomware attack
Dan Milmo reports: The Guardian has confirmed it was hit by a ransomware attack in December and that the personal data of UK staff members has been accessed in the incident. The Guardian Media Group’s chief executive, Anna Bateson, and the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, confirmed the news in an update emailed to staff on…