Danny Fortson reports: A Russian internet pirate under investigation for potential ties to Russia’s intelligence services is alleged to have hacked the systems of 39 British universities. Alexandra Elbakyan is founder of Sci-Hub, a website that publishes millions of academic papers free that would otherwise be available only through subscriptions or one-off payments. Read more…
Category: Education Sector
PA: Juniata College Provides Notice of Data Incident
If it takes from March 2019, when you first become aware that something might be going on, until November 2019 to notify individuals, is that unacceptably long? Juniata College is providing notice of a recent incident that may affect the privacy of some personal information. While we are unaware of any misuse of information, we…
NYS Comptroller releases two more school district IT audits
By now, regular readers may wonder why I continue to post IT audits of New York school districts when the results have generally been so poor. Where’s the good news, you wonder? There really has been none or extremely little. Which is exactly why I will continue to post these — until people wake up…
Saudi hacker gives 19 students full grades, faces jail and millions in fine
Mariam Nabbout reports: A Saudi student hacked into his university’s system to change his classmates’ grades and is now facing legal trouble in the kingdom. This week, the country’s public prosecution recommended the young man receives a four-year jail sentence and a 3-million Saudi riyal fine ($799,804). The defendant, who studies at the King Faisal University in Hofuf,…
UK: Statement on Brechin High School data breach
We can confirm that personal details were inappropriately shared to a pupil-based audience at one of our secondary schools on Monday (16 Dec). This is unacceptable and should not have happened under any circumstances. We apologise for the obvious upset and concern this has caused, particularly to those young people whose details were shown. Enquiries…
11 New US School Districts Compromised by Ransomware; 72 in 2019
Security Magazine reports: Eleven new U.S. school districts (comprised of 226 schools) have been compromised by ransomware since late October, says a report by Armor. Since January 2019 to date, Armor has identified a total of 72 school districts and/or individual educational institutions that have publicly reported being a victim of ransomware. These attacks have potentially…