Today’s somewhat infuriating breach notification is from the city of Banos, California. On or before January 31, the city notified people who had personal information on a laptop that was stolen from an employee’s vehicle. The laptop was password-protected but unencrypted, and the city acknowledges that someone could remove data from the hard drive, although…
Category: Government Sector
Information about 69,000 Phoenix pay system victims sent in error
Catharine Tunney reports: More than 69,000 public servants caught up in the Phoenix pay system debacle are now victims of a privacy breach after their personal information was accidentally emailed to the wrong people, says Public Services and Procurement Canada. The problem-plagued electronic payroll system has improperly paid tens of thousands of public servants since its launch…
Israel says Hamas used ‘attractive’ women in thwarted cyberattack
AFP reports: Israel’s military said on Sunday it had thwarted an attempted malware attack by Hamas that sought to gain access to soldiers’ mobile phones by using seductive pictures of young women. The phones of a few dozen soldiers were affected, but the military “does not assess that there has been a substantial breach of…
1 in 6 Massachusetts Communities Hit by ‘Ransomware’ Attacks
Ryan Kath and Jim Haddadin report: Inside the Bay State, a handful of attacks against cities and towns have garnered widespread attention, though the problem may be more prevalent than many imagine. Records obtained by the NBC10 Boston Investigators show dozens of Massachusetts communities have quietly negotiated ransomware attacks, sometimes taking days or weeks to…
UK: Redcar cyber-attack: Council using pen and paper
On February 14, Joe Tidy reported: More than 135,000 UK residents have been without online public services for nearly a week, as their council struggles with a cyber-attack. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council’s website and all computers at the authority were attacked on Saturday. Read more on BBC.
TX: Port Lavaca City Hall won’t pay $200k ransom demand; working to recover from Ryuk attack
Samantha Douty reports: Port Lavaca City Hall’s server fell at the hands of the Russian ryuk virus last week. The city’s Mayor Jack Whitlow said city officials are scrubbing the servers of the virus to get their system back into working order. The city has already racked up a nearly $50,000 bill, most of which…