Nancy Dillon reports that a 32-year old hacker who used the online names of “fame” and “infam0us” and was part of SwaggSec has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in attacking DirecTV, Farmers Insurance and the Los Angeles Department of Public Works: Mario Patrick Chuisano was sentenced in U.S. District Court in…
Category: Malware
MA: Salisbury Fire Department’s computers crippled by possible ransomware attack
AngelaJean Chiaramida reports: A nasty computer virus that had some of the hallmarks of a “ransomware” attack hobbled the Salisbury Fire Department recently, destroying computer files and temporarily forcing staffers to resort to pen and paper. […] The Salisbury Fire Department’s problem began about two weeks ago, when Souliotis’ desk computer started acting strangely when…
Lawyer: Malware located on drive provided by police department in discovery
Bill Bowden reports: A lawyer representing three Fort Smith police officers in a whistleblower case said Monday that someone tried to hack into his computer by giving him an external hard drive contaminated with malicious software. Matthew Campbell of the Pinnacle Law Firm in North Little Rock has been representing three current and former Fort…
Taipei mayor’s office computer hacked by Chinese hacker: official
CNA reports: The computer on the desk of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s secretary was hacked recently and investigators have traced the perpetrator to China, a Taipei city government official said Tuesday. Lee Wei-bin, the city’s information technology commissioner, told the City Council that a hacker installed a Trojan malware program into the secretary’s computer in…
Homebridge (formerly IHSS) notifies home service providers of data compromise and possible misuse of their information
In May 2012, California’s Dept of Social Services notified over 700,000 In-Home Supportive Services providers and recipients that their payroll data, including Social Security numbers, had been lost in the mail. In December 2012, 14,000 In-Home Supportive Services were notified that their personal information, including Social Security numbers, had been exposed on the Internet. Now Homebridge (formerly…
More police departments acknowledge paying ransom to unlock their systems
And yet more police departments pay ransom to unlock their systems. WCSH in Maine reports: Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett said four towns and the county have a special computer network to share files and records. Someone accidentally downloaded a virus, called “megacode”, that put an encryption code on all the computer data. The Sheriff…