As a follow-up to a Nova Scotia privacy breach previously noted on this site, The Chronicle Herald has an update with a government and police smackdown by EFF. Aaron Beswick explains: The Nova Scotia government received a cyber-security award this week. But it wasn’t a good one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online non-profit group…
Category: Government Sector
Chinese Government Officials Face Ransomware Attack
Samuel Haig reports: A statement issued by a Chinese provincial government website has announced that the National Network and Information Security Information Center has identified overseas hackers targeting the websites of government departments with emails containing ransomware. The ransomware was delivered via an email containing the subject line: “You must report to the police at…
Stolen N.W.T. laptop was among dozens that were unencrypted and handed out to unsuspecting staff anyway
This is Part 3 of a 3-part series on a stolen laptop. If you missed the earlier parts, you can find them here: Part 1 and Part 2. Priscilla Hwang reports: The N.W.T. government’s information technology division knew a set of laptops were “very difficult” to encrypt, but still handed it out for government staff…
Hundreds of immigrant recruits risk ‘death sentence’ after Army bungles data, lawmaker says
Today’s reminder that some “human error” breaches can put lives at risk. Alex Horton reports: Army officials inadvertently disclosed sensitive information about hundreds of immigrant recruits from nations such as China and Russia, in a breach that could aid hostile governments in persecuting them or their families, a lawmaker and former U.S. officials said. A…
UK: Gateshead Council data breaches share health and debt details
BBC reports: A council has admitted a series of data breaches, including uploading personal medical details to an online forum. Gateshead Council also sent letters containing private information to the wrong addresses and sent a debtor a list of other people who owed it money. The 19 breaches happened in the ten months after new…
Rural Jackson County, Ga., recovering from Ryuk ransomware attack after paying $400,000 ransom
On March 6, Benjamin Freed reported: Computer systems in rural Jackson County, Georgia, were knocked offline over the weekend after being hit with a ransomware virus. The entire county government’s email system is offline, and some departments, including law enforcement, have had to resort to conducting their operations entirely on paper. “Everything we have is…