Paying ransom doesn’t always guarantee that a ransomware victim will be able to recover all of the encrypted data. Some more food for thought in a news story today about ransomware in the New York Times that highlights how small government entities are being targeted recently: The F.B.I. said it had received nearly 1,500 ransomware…
Category: Government Sector
Mystery of NSA Leak Lingers as Stolen Document Case Winds Up
Tami Abdollah and Eric Tucker of AP report on what is arguably the most significant insider breach in our government of this century: Federal agents descended on the suburban Maryland house with the flash and bang of a stun grenade, blocked off the street and spent hours questioning the homeowner about a theft of government…
Croatian government targeted by mysterious hackers
Catalin Cimpanu reports: A mysterious hacker group has targeted, and most likely infected, Croatian government employees between February and April this year. Attackers, which are suspected to be a state-sponsored unit, have targeted victims using a spear-phishing campaign that mimicked delivery notifications from the Croatian postal or other retail services. Read more on ZDNet.
Hackers Obtain Names, Social Security Numbers For 78K In Maryland
Deb Belt reports: The names and Social Security numbers of 78,000 Marylanders were accessed by hackers who breached Maryland Department of Labor databases, state officials said July 5. While customers whose personal information was accessed are just now being notified, the breach happened in April and involved data files from 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014….
Telangana website leaking sensitive data of pensioners; official says it won’t be fixed until July 31
Soumyarendra Barik reports something that is somewhat… “mind-boggling:” Sensitive information, including bank account numbers, PAN numbers, PPO (pension payment order) IDs, tax-deductions and pension amounts of retired state government employees is being leaked on the Directorate of Treasuries and Accounts (DoTA) website, according to a New Indian Express report. Director of Treasuries and Accounts KSRC…
FL: Sheriff: DCF employee behind data breach affecting 2,000
AP reports: Investigators say a Florida Department of Children and Family Services employee is accused of leaking personal data to six people in an organized fraud ring. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that the data breach affected 2,000 people, and has already amounted to $260,000 in retail theft. Read more on SFGate.