Ionut Ilascu reports: Someone is auctioning on underground forums a database allegedly containing personal information of 92 million Brazilian citizens. They claim that every record is real and unique. The seller also advertises a search service focused on Brazilians, saying that they can dig up details about an individual starting from minimum initial data. The…
Category: Of Note
Public dataset to help researchers predict malicious activity
Sara Barker reports: Australian researchers have created what they are calling ‘the largest public available dataset of malicious internet activity’ of its kind. They hope it will help cybersecurity specialists predict what security threats the future could bring. CRISO’s Data61, Macquarie University, University of Sydney, and Nokia Bell Labs developed the dataset, called FinalBlacklist, that…
Dental Practice Pays $10,000 to Settle Social Media Disclosures of Patients’ Protected Health Information
HHS OCR has announced another settlement of a HIPAA complaint: Elite Dental Associates, Dallas (“Elite”) has agreed to pay $10,000 to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and to adopt a corrective action plan to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act…
AU: Inside a massive cyber hack that risks compromising leaders across the globe
Garrett Davis reports: One email was all it took for hackers to steal some of the most personal information from people potentially now in high-ranking roles across the globe. The cyber attack was so sophisticated it didn’t even need the person to click on a link or open a document to compromise decades worth of…
AU: Contractor for Landmark White charged over Sydney data breach
AAP reports: A Sydney IT contractor has been charged over a data breach at a property evaluation firm that allegedly affected more than 270,000 people, cost the company more than $8 million and resulted in troves of personal information being uploaded onto the dark web. Stephen Grant allegedly accessed and published more than 170,000 data…
Senate Passes Bill Aimed At Combating Ransomware Attacks
Lindsey O’Donnell reports: The U.S. Senate has approved new legislation aimed at helping government agencies and private-sector companies combat ransomware attacks. The legislation comes as local governments and schools continue to be hit by sophisticated – and in some cases coordinated – ransomware attacks. The proposed law, the “DHS Cyber Hunt and Incident Response Teams Act,” authorizes…