Carly Q. Romalino reports: A weak network password allowed hackers to infiltrate a Gloucester County school district’s network last week, holding its files hostage for more than $125,000, according to Educational Information and Resource Center experts. A ransomware attack on Swedesboro-Woolwich Elementary School District’s network last week interrupted state-mandated testing and locked down network files…
Category: U.S.
US judge refuses to delay code theft trial for ex-Goldman programmer
Brendan Pierson reports: A New York judge on Wednesday rejected a request from prosecutors to delay the scheduled trial of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc computer programmer Sergey Aleynikov, who is charged with stealing code from the investment bank. Read more on Reuters.
Officials say advanced hack was hoax in charging twin brothers
Justin Jouvenal reports: The cybersecurity expert and hacker claimed he created a sophisticated attack that allowed him to add unlimited funds to gift cards from major retailers — a security hole that could have resulted in huge losses for Starbucks, Kmart and Whole Foods Market. But the story the Springfield man told federal agents and The Washington…
Nine Defendants Plead Guilty in $20 Million Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Ring
There’s a follow-up to a case previously reported on PHIprivacy.net and on this site. From the U.S. Department of Justice: Alabama and Georgia residents pleaded guilty for their roles in a $20 million stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) conspiracy, Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George…
Hacked uni’s admins hand ID theft prevention reward to data burglars
I wish this was an April Fools’ Day prank, but it’s not. Alexander J. Martin reports that Bradley University’s response to their recent breach may just have made things worse for their employees. Keep in mind as you read the following that the breach involved Social Security numbers: The private institution then attempted to mitigate…
FTC and Wyndham Present Arguments on Whether FTC has Declared Unreasonable Cybersecurity Practices Unfair
Katherine Gasztonyi writes: On Friday, March 27, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission and Wyndham Worldwide Corp. filed supplemental briefing in the Third Circuit regarding whether the FTC had made an adjudicative decision that the FTC Act prohibits unreasonable cybersecurity practices and, if not, whether a federal court could hear a case charging a violation of the FTC Act…