William Zheng reports: China’s customs authority has launched an internal investigation into an allegation that sensitive business data it had collected from Chinese car parts suppliers was obtained by a foreign company, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. Customs data managers have also been told to review and step up security, they…
Category: Government Sector
TX: Odessa residents suffer from second Click2Gov breach
Joshua Skinner reports: The city of Odessa recently had a data breach involving its online payment web portal, and this isn’t the first time it’s happened. The breach only affected users of the online Click2Gov system who made one-time payments for utility bills. Odessa uses Click2Gov as third-party provider software that allows people to pay…
Russia’s Fancy Bear Hackers Likely Penetrated a US Federal Agency
Andy Greenberg reports: A warning that unidentified hackers broke into an agency of the US federal government and stole its data is troubling enough. But it becomes all the more disturbing when those unidentified intruders are identified—and appear likely to be part of a notorious team of cyberspies working in the service of Russia’s military intelligence agency,…
Data breach: Dfat reveals email addresses of vulnerable Australians stranded overseas
Margaret Simons reports: The private email addresses of hundreds of vulnerable Australian travellers stranded overseas have been accidentally revealed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The addresses were included in an email sent to multiple recipients before midday on Wednesday by the Covid-19 consular operations section of Dfat. Read more on The Guardian.
Hackers hit South African government fund for children and missing people
Mfuneko Toyana reports: Hackers attacked a South Africa’s justice department fund last week, the department said on Sept 30, but said it did not receive any ransom demands. They targeted a fund containing a pool of money held by the courts in trust on behalf of minors, unborn heirs and missing or absent persons, it…
Security lapse exposes hundreds of addresses of Minnesotans infected with COVID-19
Jay Kolls reports: In April, Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order allowing the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to share addresses of COVID-19 patients with first responders across Minnesota. The governor imposed strict guidelines for sharing those addresses to protect the identity of Minnesotans with COVID-19. MDH and…