Catalin Cimpanu reports: An unusual traffic spike is what alerted Facebook engineers that something might be wrong, and it was an investigation into this heightened activity that led engineers to discover a massive security breach this week. Facebook confirmed the hack earlier today, in a press release. It said hackers stole access tokens for roughly…
Category: Hack
Computer hack cost Pennsylvania’s Senate Democrats $700,000; others pay less-costly ransoms
Deb Erdley reports: Pay now, or pay later. Leaders of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus faced those options when hackers infected their computer system in March 2017, holding it hostage with ransomware. Officials at the Westmoreland County Housing Authority faced the same dilemma when hackers held their computers and phones hostage in July. The Housing…
Facebook Hacked, 50 Million Users Affected
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai and Jason Koebler report: Facebook disclosed that hackers stole data from 50 million people on Friday. In a blog post, Facebook’s vice president of product management Guy Rosen said that the company’s engineering team “discovered a security issue affecting almost 50 million accounts.” “It’s clear that attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code…
Japan Gov’t Outraged by $60m Crypto Hack of Zaif, Regrets Lack of Suspension
CCN reports: Earlier this month, major Japanese crypto exchange Zaif was hacked, losing $60 million worth of crypto in user funds. The Financial Services Agency (FSA), the main financial watchdog of Japan, has stated that it regrets allowing Zaif to continue its operation after the exchange was given two warnings to drastically improve its system….
Teen Apple Hacker Avoids Jail in Australia After Serious Attacks
David Stringer reports: An Australian teenager who hacked Apple Inc. systems over several months and downloaded sensitive data avoided a jail term Thursday, as a court heard he was fascinated by the tech giant and found accessing its networks addictive. The now adult defendant, who was 16 at the time the hacking began, accessed Apple’s…
Voya pays $1 million to settle SEC charges over 2016 cybersecurity breach
Ryan W. Neal reports: Voya Financial Advisors will pay $1 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges regarding a data security breach that compromised the personal information of thousands of customers. An SEC order says that over a period of six days in April 2016, criminals impersonating independent advisers called the firm’s support line…