More entities are falling prey to SamSam ransomware. Hannah Grover reports: The city of Farmington is returning to normal after a variant of the ransomware known as SamSam shut down the computer systems. The virus encrypts files on a computer network or locks down the entire system. When people attempt to log on, they receive…
Category: Of Note
MailChimp Found Leaking Email Addresses
Tara Seals reports: MailChimp, the bulk email company responsible for sending millions of newsletters, promotional mail and other mass communiques every day, has been leaking respondents’ email addresses. Security researcher Terence Eden found what he termed “an annoying privacy violation,” adding that the issue can expose personal information. The issue is this: When a respondent…
25 per cent of hackers don’t report bugs due to lack of disclosure policies
A friend tweeted to me tonight: .@PogoWasRight you have been beating this drum and saying this for a long time now… years. “report reveals they are instead ‘frequently ignored or misunderstood”. Now u have a report! 😉https://t.co/WYu94gQQfu — Commissioner Miner (@fanCRTCProfling) January 19, 2018 Indeed we do. Carly Page reports: One in four ethical hackers…
UK: Alex Bessell, 21, sentenced to two years in jail after admitting to numerous Computer Misuse Act offenses
A hacker who was responsible for thousands of cyber-attacks on firms around the world including Skype and Google has been jailed for two years. Alex Bessell, 21, from Liverpool, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court today (18 January) after admitting to a number of offences under the Computer Misuse Act on 4 December at the…
FTC: Privacy & Data Security Update: 2017
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released its Privacy & Data Security Update: 2017. The report is organized by major privacy enforcement actions in 2017, data security enforcement in 2017, and other topics of significant concern such as fair credit reporting, children’s online privacy and do not call. Apart from the Lenovo, Uber, and D-Link…
Aetna Customers Get $17 Million In HIV Privacy settlement
WTVA reports: After thousands of customers’ HIV statuses were revealed in mailings last year, a federal class-action lawsuit against health care company Aetna has reached a $17 million settlement. The lawsuit was filed in August after some 12,000 Aetna customers nationwide received letters mailed in July that accidentally revealed their HIV status through the windows…