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…
Category: Government Sector
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…
GA: DeKalb officers accused of selling accident reports resign after arrests
Shaddi Abusaid reports: Two DeKalb County police officers arrested last month after allegedly selling thousands of accident reports have resigned in lieu of termination, the department said. Nikko McClinton and Ronald Anderson, both nine-year veterans of the department, were arrested Jan. 30 after authorities learned they were selling DeKalb’s crash reports to third parties, agency…
NC: Wake County learns that 1,900 employees affected by breach at former benefits administrator
Posted to Wake County’s website yesterday (h/t, WDTV/Yahoo) Wake County’s former flexible benefit spending accounts administrator, Interactive Medical Systems, recently reported that it experienced a data security breach that disclosed the personal information of nearly 1,900 Wake County Government employees to an unauthorized third party. “We sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern that this matter…