Jeanette Chabalala reports: A man who was convicted of fraudulently obtaining the personal data of millions of South Africans is a wanted man after he skipped his sentencing. Karabo Phungula failed to appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, for his sentencing on Wednesday. It was the second…
Category: Of Note
Little Rock school district seeks cyberattack disclosure guidance
Arkansas Online reports: The Little Rock School District is continuing to seek an attorney general’s opinion on the legality of holding private school board meetings when reacting to a cyber- or ransomware attack on a district’s electronic information systems. Little Rock Superintendent Jermall Wright sent a lengthy letter in January to the attorney general’s office…
Supreme Court Hears Healthcare Identity Theft Case
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee reports: Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court seem ready to restrict federal prosecutors’ use of a federal law criminalizing identity theft after hearing a case challenging its application in a Medicaid fraud case. Traditional identity theft involving appropriation of personal information for criminal ends, such as obtaining fraudulent prescriptions or submitting fake…
How Offensive Action is Countering Ransomware
Intel471 writes: Ransomware attacks have crossed a red line for many countries with continued merciless attacks. The threat to national economies and critical infrastructure marked a turning point. Governments are fighting back, and one of the strategies now routinely employed is infiltrating the servers and infrastructure of ransomware gangs. A recent offensive action against a…
Hackers Extort Less Money, Are Laid Off as New Tactics Thwart More Ransomware Attacks
Robert McMillan, Dustin Volz, and Aruna Viswanatha report: Extortion payments from ransomware, a hacking scourge that has crippled hospitals, schools and public infrastructure, fell significantly last year, according to federal officials, cybersecurity analysts and blockchain firms. One of the examples cited surprised me, as I had no idea a Conti call center had so many…
GSA not tapping data on unauthorized access attempts at federal facilities, report says
Chris Riotta reports: The General Services Administration is failing to act on data linked to access cards used to enter federal facilities, according to a new oversight report. A two-year audit conducted between 2020 and 2022 revealed over 32,000 failed access attempts at GSA-managed facilities, the Office of Inspector General report said, possibly indicating attempts to gain…