James Fyfe and Edward O’Driscoll report: A computer holding hundreds of meeting and interview transcripts has been stolen from the Commerce Commission. The computer belonged to an external provider and was taken last week, the Commerce Commission said in a statement on Tuesday. The transcripts cover a range of the commission’s work and may date…
Category: Government Sector
Hacker shuts down Spanish city’s computer sytem and demands bitcoin ransom
AFP reports: A hacker has taken over the computer system of the southern Spanish city of Jerez de la Frontera and is demanding a ransom paid in bitcoin to unlock it, local officials said Friday. The cyber attack, which has caused outages of services offered through the city’s website, began on Tuesday night, a municipal…
PA: Bradford City Hall nearly back to normal after ransomware incident
Marcie Schellhammer reports: Bradford City Hall has been up and running all week after the ransomware attack last weekend. Mayor Tom Riel said Friday the replacement computers are in place. “The computers are fully operational with just a few minor details to be worked out in the coming days,” he said. “We didn’t lose any…
GA: Cornelia fends off third ransomware attack of the year, upgrades firewall
Rob Moore reports: A ransomware attack on City of Cornelia’s computerized billing system last week resulted in a day of lost productivity, but city leaders are taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. “We did not get to the point of like Atlanta where they actually held us [for] ransom,” City Manager Donald Anderson…
Defense Department to tighten data security after settlement with veterans group
Military Times reports: The Defense Department will revamp its Servicemembers Civil Relief Act databases following charges the online information sites exposed millions of troops’ and veterans’ personal information to identity thieves and scammers, officials announced Thursday. Leaders from Vietnam Veterans of America, which filed a lawsuit against the department to force the changes, called the move an important…
Sioux Falls VA notifies patients after HIPAA breach
KSFY reports: Officials with the Sioux Falls Veteran Affairs Health Care System are warning patients about a potential breach of privacy. The incident stems from letters sent to a Sioux Falls VA mail room printer on August 21, according to Public Affairs Officer Erin Bultje. VA staff were not aware the mail room printer was…