Maggie Miller reports: Albania was hit by cyberattacks earlier this year so debilitating that the government considered invoking a NATO declaration that could have pulled all member states into confrontation with Iran, Prime Minister Edi Rama said. It would have been the first time a NATO member state used a cyberattack to invoke Article Five…
Author: Dissent
Sydney teenager charged after allegedly blackmailing 93 Optus customers affected by data breach
Jake Lapham reports: A 19-year-old Sydney man has been charged after allegedly using information obtained during last month’s Optus data breach to blackmail people. It is alleged the man threatened 93 customers via text messages, saying he would use their details to commit financial crimes unless they paid $2,000. No customers paid the money. Australian…
WA: Columbia River Mental Health Services discloses long-running breach
Columbia River Mental Health Services in Vancouver, Washington has issued a press release about a breach that went undetected for approximately one year. From their press release: Columbia River Mental Health Services (“CRMHS”) recently became aware of suspicious activity related to certain CRMHS email accounts. CRMHS immediately launched an investigation, with the assistance of third-party…
Third servicer entangled in massive data breach litigation
Andrew Martinez reports: The legal fallout from a massive data breach impacting over 4 million borrowers’ personally identifiable information just got bigger. A federal judge Monday ordered a class action lawsuit against Community Loan Servicing be folded into a larger, similar suit against two of its sister companies, according to court records. The consolidated complaints from…
Former Uber security chief found guilty of covering up data breach
Maria Dinzeo reports: In a verdict with far-reaching implications for security chiefs nationwide, a federal jury convicted Uber’s former head of security Joe Sullivan on Wednesday of concealing a 2016 data breach from authorities and obstructing an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into Uber’s security practices. Sullivan had only been on the job a…
Netwalker Affiliate, Sebastian Vachon-Desjardins, Sentenced to 20 years in prison
A Canadian man was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $21,500,000 today for his role in NetWalker ransomware attacks. The Court will order restitution at a later date. According to court documents, Sebastian Vachon-Desjardins, 35, of Gatineau, Quebec, participated in a sophisticated form of ransomware known as NetWalker. NetWalker ransomware has…