Carly Q. Romalino reports: A weak network password allowed hackers to infiltrate a Gloucester County school district’s network last week, holding its files hostage for more than $125,000, according to Educational Information and Resource Center experts. A ransomware attack on Swedesboro-Woolwich Elementary School District’s network last week interrupted state-mandated testing and locked down network files…
Category: Education Sector
Aussie teen hacker Abdilo’s home raided, and he’s ordered to turn over his passwords and decryption keys
Will Ockenden and Benjamin Sveen report that the teenage hacker known as “Abdilo” had his home raided by Australian law enforcement in a pre-dawn raid. DataBreaches.net has reported on a number of Abdilo’s claimed hacks, which included an Australian travel insurance company, the University of Sydney, and numerous educational institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere. Most of his…
MD: Data Breach at Westland Middle School Releases Student Locker Combinations
From the locker-numbers-today-grades-tomorrow dept.: Krista Brick reports: Information technology professionals are trying to determine today how students were able to access a secured computer file at Bethesda’s Westland Middle School and distribute the names, locker numbers and locker combinations for that school’s 1,400 lockers. Montgomery County Public School’s Westland Principal Alison Serino told MyMCMedia Wednesday that…
Hacked uni’s admins hand ID theft prevention reward to data burglars
I wish this was an April Fools’ Day prank, but it’s not. Alexander J. Martin reports that Bradley University’s response to their recent breach may just have made things worse for their employees. Keep in mind as you read the following that the breach involved Social Security numbers: The private institution then attempted to mitigate…
IL: Bradley University Reports Data Breach
As seen on their web site: Bradley University has reported a breach of personally identifiable information that may affect current employees and their family members. An internal investigation conducted over the last several days discovered malware (malicious software) on two University computers containing personal identifiable information. The malware may have captured personal information including social…
Westmont College professor’s laptop with applicant information stolen from car
These statements strike me as potentially mutually exclusive: “On December 14, 2014, a college laptop was stolen from a professor’s car that was briefly parked at a gas station.” “we take the security of your personal information very seriously” — from a breach notification by Westmont College. Did Westmont College have a policy in place that required…