On May 12, the Sacramento Valley Mirror (SVM) reported on a ransomware attack on the Glenn County Office of Education and school districts. According to GlennCOE, the attack began in the early morning of May 10, and as SVM reported: Put out of commission systemwide for GCOE, school districts, and schools were the Internet, the…
Category: Of Note
Cybercriminals use reverse tunneling and URL shorteners to launch ‘virtually undetectable’ phishing campaigns
Stephen Pritchard reports: A new way of carrying out phishing attacks is being adopted by criminal groups – and it could make threat actors virtually undetectable, security researchers warn. The technique involves using ‘reverse tunnel’ services and URL shorteners to launch large-scale phishing attacks. What’s more, the groups using these techniques leave no trace. Instead, threat actors…
New Canadian cybersecurity bill to require mandatory reporting of ransomware, other attacks
Jim Bronskill reports: Businesses and other private-sector organizations would be required to report ransomware incidents and other cyberattacks to the government under a federal bill to be tabled today. The legislation is intended to flesh out Liberal government efforts to protect critical infrastructure following last month’s announcement that Chinese vendors Huawei Technologies and ZTE will be banned from Canada’s…
This is (One of Many Reasons) Why Districts Get Hit with Ransomware
Bill Fitzgerald writes: Even the smallest of school districts are complicated places. Communicating with stakeholders is hard to do well, and getting the details right is imperative. The details become even more important when school boards and superintendents try and communicate about school safety issues. When communication is done well, is not rushed, and goes…
Defensive Cyber Attacks Declared Legal by UK AG, Path Cleared to “Hack Back” When Critical Infrastructure & Services Attacked
Scott Ikeda reports: The Attorney General of the United Kingdom has declared the country can make use of defensive cyber attacks when “key services” (such as critical infrastructure and banks) are struck by foreign threat actors. The country is taking a formal position on extending international law to the digital realm, something that nations have…
Telegram Reportedly Exposed User Data To Authorities
Isobel Sullivan reports: If you’re one of Telegram’s 500 million active users, your privacy may no longer be guaranteed. Last Friday Der Spiegel, Germany’s largest news site, revealed that operators of the messaging platform handed over personal data to the authorities, despite the app claiming that they have never succumbed to such requests. […] While Telegram…