Dan Goodin reports: Researchers are marveling at the scope and magnitude of a vulnerability that hackers are actively exploiting to take full control of network devices that run on some of the world’s biggest and most sensitive networks. The vulnerability, which carries a 9.8 severity rating out of a possible 10, affects F5’s BIG-IP, a…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Insufficient Data Security and Disregard for Student Data Privacy Plague the DeKalb County School District; With Commentary by Jim Siegl
Keegan Brooks writes: The DeKalb County School District has been making thousands of files containing sensitive student and staff information widely accessible to anyone in the district. Types of information exposed have included social security numbers, academic records, medical forms, course transcripts, standardized test scores, discipline records, and the 504/IEP information of students, among others….
Cybercrime loves company: Conti cooperated with other ransomware gangs
Seems to be a lot of Conti-related analyses this week, as well as the $10 million reward offered by the government for information leadings to Conti’s leaders. From Intel471: Software developers often depend on the collective knowledge of the industry to build their products. Whether it’s through reverse engineering, poaching talent, or straight up cloning…
False-flag cyberattacks a red line for nation-states, says Mandiant boss
Jessica Lyons Hardcastle reports: False-flag cyberattacks represent a red line that even nation states like Russia and China don’t want to cross, according to Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia. “It’s one of the last rules of the playground that a modern nation may not want to break because they don’t want everyone doing false flags,” he…
Conti and Hive ransomware operations: Leveraging victim chats for insights
Kendall McKay and colleagues Paul Eubanks and Jaime Filson of Talos issued a report this week with some interesting insights. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Through open-source research, we obtained and analyzed over four months of chat logs — more than 40 separate conversations — between Conti and Hive ransomware operators and their victims. The findings in this…
Update: U.S. v. Robert Purbeck aka “Lifelock”
Long-time readers may recall that in 2017 and 2018, DataBreaches.net reported on hacks of two medical practices by someone calling himself “Lifelock.” DataBreaches’ past reporting on him can be found in this July, 2017 post (see comments under the post), in two 2018 posts, and then a post in response to a press release from…