Hannah Murphy reports: To pay or not to pay? For companies unfortunate enough to be hit by a ransomware attack, that is the crucial question. Ransomware attacks — in which cyber criminals lock up a victim’s data or computer system and release it only if a ransom is paid — exploded in 2020 and 2021,…
Author: Dissent
Hackers release Australian health insurer’s customer data
While those of us who report on ransomware groups may not be sure whether to refer to the group responsible for a ransomware attack on Medibank as “REvil” or “BlogExx,” the more important story is that the hackers did start leaking data stolen from Medibank. The data, published on the dark web, included screencaps from…
IL Champaign County Clerk reports cyber-attacks on servers
Melissa Coyne reports: The Champaign County Clerk’s office is reporting that computer server performance is being impacted by cyber-attacks on the network and servers. The Champaign County Clerk said the website has been the target of repeated D-DOS attacks for the past month, fortunately the reinforced security and response from the Clerk’s IT team has…
Il: Cyber police hacked beyond court order Case 3000
Yonah Jeremy Bob reports: The state prosecution revealed to the defense in Case 3000, the Submarine Affair, on Tuesday that there were at least three instances where a probe by the cyber police unit seized cell phone data beyond what was approved by court order. Defense lawyers called the revelation outrageous and demanded that the state bring charges…
AU: Teenager pleads guilty to blackmailing Optus data breach victims
Freya Noble reports: A Sydney teenager has pleaded guilty to two charges after trying to blackmail people caught up in the Optus data breach. Dennis Su, 19, texted 93 of the telco’s customers, demanding they transfer $2000 to a CBA bank account “or face their personal information being used for financial crimes”. Su downloaded the personal details from a website that…
Bug Bounties and Ransomware Demands: Storm Clouds Ahead for In-House Counsel
Michael Ward, Matthew Baker, and Jessica Wu of Baker Botts write about the conviction of Uber’s former security chief for felony violations of obstructing a Federal Trade Commission investigation and “misprision of felony” for failing to disclose a 2016 data breach. They then discuss issues for in-house counsel that the case raises, beginning with: Action…