Bill Bowden reports from Arkansas: Across Arkansas, many county government employees were working without computers on Wednesday after a Rogers-based information technology company told them to shut down computer servers because of a possible security breach. “They’re telling us not to even turn them on, period,” said Stephen Willis, the Newton County assessor in Jasper….
Author: Dissent
Manitoba’s healthcare privacy breach numbers ‘truly alarming’
Katrina Clarke reports: Manitoba hospital workers have breached patients’ privacy more than 1,000 times in the last three years — but how many were disciplined and what consequences they faced is unclear. It’s an issue one ethicist calls “alarming,” saying the public deserves to know more about workers snooping into sensitive files. Data obtained by…
Students will retake SATs after their completed exam sheets blow off UPS truck
Shelby Kapp reports: El Paso High School students’ SAT scores were compromised after they flew out of a UPS truck. The El Paso Independent School District says staff recovered all but 55 SAT sheets. “El Paso ISD is working closely with the College Board to determine a remedy for the El Paso High School students…
Ransomware attacks: is there a case for paying up?
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,…
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…