Lisa Dayley Smith reports: Ransomware held Madison County hostage on Monday and continued through much of Thursday. The hacker demanded money to restore files and access, but Madison County officials declined to pay. Instead, officials turned to their IT specialists to fix the problem. County workers called in specialists on Monday – Columbus Day –…
Category: Malware
MD: 600 Anne Arundel County library computers affected by “Emotet” virus
Chase Cook reports: About 600 Anne Arundel County Library computers were exposed to a computer virus, prompting officials to take the computers out of service and ask customers to monitor personal information for fraudulent activity. It was announced Saturday that the computers were exposed to a virus called Emotet, which targets users through sophisticated email…
Notice of Security Breach: Tillamook Chiropractic Clinic
On August 3rd, 2018, during an internal security audit, it was discovered that a major computer network breach had occurred at the offices of Tillamook Chiropractic Clinic. On May 24, 2016, malware was installed on the primary insurance billing system, which hackers then used as a staging area to collect patient records, including patient full…
Vancouver-based Burgerville hit by data breach
Anthony Macuk reports: Burgerville announced Wednesday that its network had been hit by a cybersecurity breach that may have resulted in customers’ credit and debit card information being compromised, including names, card numbers, expiration dates and three-digit CVV numbers. The company is urging anyone who used a credit or debit card at a Burgerville location…
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…
Russian hackers ‘Fancy Bear’ now targeting governments with rootkit malware
Zack Whittaker reports: Security researchers say that they have found evidence that for the first time Russia-backed hackers are now using a more sophisticated type of malware to target government entities. ESET presented its case Thursday that the hacker group, known as Fancy Bear (or APT28), is using rootkit malware to target its victims. That…