Deb Erdley reports: Pay now, or pay later. Leaders of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus faced those options when hackers infected their computer system in March 2017, holding it hostage with ransomware. Officials at the Westmoreland County Housing Authority faced the same dilemma when hackers held their computers and phones hostage in July. The Housing…
Category: U.S.
Facebook Hacked, 50 Million Users Affected
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai and Jason Koebler report: Facebook disclosed that hackers stole data from 50 million people on Friday. In a blog post, Facebook’s vice president of product management Guy Rosen said that the company’s engineering team “discovered a security issue affecting almost 50 million accounts.” “It’s clear that attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code…
Voya pays $1 million to settle SEC charges over 2016 cybersecurity breach
Ryan W. Neal reports: Voya Financial Advisors will pay $1 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges regarding a data security breach that compromised the personal information of thousands of customers. An SEC order says that over a period of six days in April 2016, criminals impersonating independent advisers called the firm’s support line…
Ogdensburg hospital terminates employees following breaches of patient information; says police not involved
Jimmy Lawton reports: Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center says “breaches of patient information were discovered” during a recent internal investigation, but employees who purposefully committed the acts have been terminated. CHMC spokeswoman Laura Shea said the hospital dealt with the breach immediately and took action required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which outlines…
Uber settles with all 50 states and the District of Columbia over massive 2016 data breach. The price tag? $148 million.
Uber Technologies Inc. will be paying a steep fare for its 2016 data breach. Here’s the press release from the NYS Attorney General’s Office about the record penalty it will pay. All states and the District of Columbia are party to the settlement. Settlement with 50 States & DC Also Requires Uber to Adopt Model Data…
Ransomware Attacks Conway, Companies out Thousands
Jessi Turnure reports: Hackers are blocking companies in Conway from files on their computers and won’t give them back until they pay a ransom. Some businesses are now out thousands of dollars with little to show for it. “We were a little scared because we don’t have control over that,” said the owner of Fixed…