Joe Lazzarotti writes: Government contractors have a wide range of unique challenges (find out more about these here), not the least of which is data security. A good example is the interim rule the Department of Defense (DoD) issued last month that implements sections of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2013 and…
Category: Of Note
Once seen as bulletproof, 11 million+ Ashley Madison passwords already cracked
Dan Goodin reports: When the Ashley Madison hackers leaked close to 100 gigabytes’ worth of sensitive documents belonging to the online dating service for people cheating on their romantic partners, there seemed to be one saving grace. User passwords were cryptographically protected using bcrypt, an algorithm so slow and computationally demanding it would literally take centuries…
What did CSU do to verify vendors’ data security – and what might FTC do?
When California State University decided to purchase a We End Violence program, Agent of Change, they reportedly did consider data security. The Press-Telegram reports: Laurie Weidner, spokeswoman for the Chancellor’s Office, said CSU has not terminated its relationship with We End Violence, which administered the training program called Agent of Change. The vendor was one of…
NY: Hack of Health Insurer Excellus May Have Exposed 10M Personal Records
AP reports: A health insurer in western New York and affiliates said Wednesday that their computers were targeted last month in a cyberattack that may have provided unauthorized access to more than 10 million personal records. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, headquartered in Rochester, and Lifetime Healthcare Companies said they’re offering affected individuals in upstate New York…
Records: Energy Department struck repeatedly – and successfully – by cyber attacks
Steve Reilly reports: Cyber attackers successfully compromised the security of U.S. Department of Energy computer systems more than 150 times between 2010 and 2014, according to a review of federal records obtained by USA TODAY. Incident reports submitted by federal officials and contractors since late 2010 to the Energy Department’s Joint Cybersecurity Coordination Center shows a near-consistent…
Pastor outed on Ashley Madison commits suicide
CNN reports: John Gibson was a pastor and seminary professor. When he wasn’t teaching at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, one of his favorite pastimes was fixing cars. He was married with two children. His daughter, Callie, was teaching in front of 250 college students when she got the call. Her father had killed himself….