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…
Category: Government Sector
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…
Ex-BPD cop misused badge meet women. There are now at least 150 victims, chief says
Jessica DeLeon reports: Former Bradenton police sergeant Leonel Marines was suspended for three days without pay in 2012, after the first time he was caught misusing police databases and his badge to target women for dates or to have sex with them, according to internal affairs records. The pattern of abuse would continue for six…
“Vigilance” admits government computer hacking in retaliation for Philando Castile
AP reports: A Twin Cities man has admitted to hacking into state government databases in 2017 in retaliation for the acquittal of a police officer in the fatal shooting of a black motorist, Philando Castile. Cameron Thomas Crowley, 20, of Lino Lakes, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to one count of intentional access…
Indian Hackers On The Offensive After Successive Hits On Govt Sites
Fossbytes reports: A recent report by Hindustan Times stated that hackers from Pakistan attacked over 90 websites of the Indian Government. The recent escalations in tensions between the neighbors led to a surge in attacks in cyberspace, targeting key infrastructures. The death of 40 CRPF personnel in a recent terror strike by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad led…
UK: Former council officer fined for emailing CVs of rival job applicants to his partner
From the Information Commissioner’s Office on February 27: A former senior local government officer has been prosecuted for passing the personal information of rival job applicants to his partner. Kevin Bunsell was employed by Nuneaton and Bedworth District Council in Warwickshire as its Head of Building Control and had been trained in data protection law….