On May 7, this site reported: It seems Six Continents Hotels (InterContinental Hotel Groups) was notified earlier this year by the Secret Service that some of its hotels had suffered a data security breach. One of the hotels IHG subsequently notified was Cities Service (Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Sulphur, Louisiana). IHG alerted them on February…
Category: Malware
FBI says crypto ransomware has raked in >$18 million for cybercriminals
Sean Gallagher reports: The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has issued an alert warning businesses and individuals about the continued spread of cryptographic ransomware. This malware encrypts a victim’s files with a key held by criminals on a remote server, and it then extorts money from the victim to recover those files. The biggest threat among…
Expedia warns users about ‘unauthorized access’ of name, phone, email and booking info
Bob Sullivan reports: Some Expedia.com customers are getting emails from the firm warning that a would-be criminal has obtained “unauthorized access … (to) your name, phone number, email address and travel booking.” The details are being used in an attempt to trick customers into sharing even more personal information, the firm says. […] Sarah Gavin, head…
JP: Japanese university finds data leak 6 months after cyberattacks
Kyodo News reports: Waseda University said Monday it took about half a year before it discovered personal data on roughly 3,300 officials and students had leaked via cyberattacks. Tokyo-based Waseda, one of the top private universities in Japan, said the stolen data included the names, identification numbers, email addresses and other information pertaining to officials…
National Archives finds same malware that stole gov’t personnel data
Sean Gallagher reports: In the wake of the discovery of malware on the network of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the National Archives and Records Administration discovered three desktop computers that had been infected with the same remote access malware. The malware was detected by the National Archives’ own intrusion detection system after receiving signature data…
Blackshades malware hacker gets 5 years in prison
Ross Toback and Josh Saul report: The mastermind behind the malicious software “Blackshades” that infected a half-million computers worldwide was sentenced to almost 5 years in prison Tuesday as the federal judge bashed him for “spreading misery to the lives of thousands.” Alexander Yucel, 25, was arrested in Moldova in 2013 and he pleaded guilty…