Aaron Tan reports: Ransomware attacks were one of the top causes of data breaches in Australia during the first half of this year, according to the latest statistics report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). According to the report, the number of data breaches caused by ransomware rose from 13 in the previous…
Category: Of Note
TX: Sheldon ISD notifies current and former staff and students of network breach (UPDATED)
Sheldon ISD in Houston, Texas posted a notification on July 24 concerning a cyberattack: Sheldon Independent School District (“Sheldon” or “we”) is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of its students. This commitment extends to notifying our former students if we believe the security or privacy of their information may have been compromised. Sheldon…
Author of FastPOS malware revealed, pleads guilty
Catalin Cimpanu reports: A 30-year-old Moldovan man pleaded guilty on Friday for creating FastPOS, a strain of malware designed to infect computers processing payment card data from Point-of-Sale (POS) systems. Valerian Chiochiu, known in the hacking world as “Onassis” (after the Greek shipping magnate who married Jacqueline Kennedy), was part of the Infraud criminal organization….
GandCrab ransomware operator arrested in Belarus
Ionut Ilascu reports: An affiliate of the GandCrab ransomware-as-a-business (RaaS) has been arrested, according to an official release. Authorities were able to identify the individual in cooperation with law enforcement in Romania and the U.K. The cybercriminal’s identity has not been published but Office “K” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Belarus says that he…
Tampa teen arrested in hack of Twitter accounts of Obama, Bill Gates and others (Updated with DOJ Press Release)
Josh Fiallo and Peter Talbot report: A 17-year-old Tampa man was arrested Friday morning after the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice discovered he was behind an extensive Twitter hack, which temporarily gave him access to the accounts of Bill Gates, Barack Obama and many others. Graham Ivan Clark, 17, was arrested…
Connecticut Insurance Dept. Reminds Licensees to Comply with Data Security Law
Linn F. Freedman of Robinson & Cole writes: On July 20, 2020, the Connecticut Insurance Department issued a bulletin to licensees reminding them that the Connecticut Insurance Data Security Law (“Act”) becomes effective on October 1, 2020 and providing guidance on compliance. The Act requires “all persons who are licensed, authorized to operate or registered, or…