This might seem more appropriate on Saturday Night Live as a skit, except that it’s not a joke. Alexander J. Martin reports that King’s College London is offering its staff “counseling and prayers to help them get over the data loss suffered during October’s catastrophic IT failure.” The latest missive from management, which stresses it is “particularly mindful”…
Category: Education Sector
Chicago Public Schools worker gave student names, addresses to charter for mailers
Lauren FitzPatrick reports: A Chicago Public Schools employee improperly released some student names, home addresses and current schools to the Noble Network of Charter Schools — details that were used in recruitment mailings sent just before CPS’ official student count, district officials have told some parents in a letter. It’s not clear how the information…
PowerDuke: Widespread Post-Election Spear Phishing Campaigns Targeting Think Tanks and NGOs
Steven Adair writes: In the wake of the 2016 United States Presidential Election, not even six hours after Donald Trump became the nation’s President-Elect, an advanced persistent threat (APT) group launched a series of coordinated and well-planned spear phishing campaigns. Volexity observed five different attack waves with a heavy focus on U.S.-based think tanks and…
TN: Vanderbilt U. Psychological & Counseling Center exposed students’ names in email survey
Sarah Friedman reports: This afternoon, the Psychological & Counseling Center sent an email out to 468 of its clients without blocking the recipients from seeing each other’s names. The content of the email was a satisfaction survey regarding the student’s recent visit to the center. Several students responded to all recipients of the email with…
East Baton Rouge school system caught up in bizarre “phishing” email fraud using Superintendent Warren Drake’s name, $46,500 lost in wire transfers
Charles Lussier reports: The top business manager for the East Baton Rouge Parish school system fell for an unsophisticated con, wiring $46,500 to someone who claimed via email to be Superintendent Warren Drake, even though the man himself was working in an office next door. The school system on Thursday disclosed the fraud known as…
Thousands of college email accounts hacked
Lacy Herbert reports: The FBI is warning colleges and universities about cybersecurity concerns for student email accounts. Jonathan Powell was arrested this week, accused of hacking into more than 2,000 emails at two universities and accessing student directories and log-in information at 75 other schools. Authorities say he used password reset tools, stealing students’ personal…