Kenneth Lipp reports: Newport City Council voted last week to approve a contract for software that uses “artificial intelligence” to detect malicious network activity, bidding to avoid having its data and network seized in ransomware attacks, as have other municipalities in Oregon. Read more at Newport News Times. See what you think about this one.
Category: Government Sector
U.S. DoD tricked into paying $23.5 million to phishing actor
Bill Toulas reports: The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced the conviction of Sercan Oyuntur, 40, resident of California, for multiple counts relating to a phishing operation that caused $23.5 million in damages to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The fraudster managed to divert to his personal bank account DoD funds destined for a…
Alleged docket dumping probed (South African Police Service)
Natasha Bezuidenhout reports: Police are investigating allegations which claim police files, dockets and rape kits from Steenberg Police Station were found discarded at a dumping site. Ward 68 councillor Marita Petersen claimed she found remnants of police dockets and rape kits dumped in Steenberg since the beginning of April. Read more at News24
Conti ransomware group responsible for RIPTA cyberattack
Tolly Taylor reports: The ransom note the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority received on Aug. 5 began with a chilling statement. “All of your files are currently encrypted by Conti strain,” the cyberhackers wrote. The next day, RIPTA hired Coveware Inc., a firm that helps entities recover hacked data, according to new documents obtained by…
Hard drives, equipment containing personal information stolen from L&I in Tukwila
Fox13 reports: Police are investigating a recent burglary at a Washington State Department of Labor Industries (L&I) office, where equipment containing sensitive personal identifiable information was stolen. Video at Yahoo!
LA County Department of Mental Health Compromised by Phishing Attack
On April 21, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health disclosed that it had suffered a data breach in a phishing incident. Unauthorized access occurred between October 19 to October 21, 2021. On April 20, LACDMH uploaded a template of its notification letter to the California Attorney General’s Office. That template indicated that the…