Gareth Corfield reports: A war of words has erupted between the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and a British web security pro after a senior cop declared it would be “a waste of public money” to keep discussing security flaws in the body’s Cyberalarm product. Paul Moore says he uncovered what he described as a…
In Battle Against Hackers, Companies Try to Deceive the Deceivers
Heidi Mitchell reports: An increasing number of companies are looking at an innovative approach to deal with hackers that break into their computer networks. They lure cybercriminals into thinking they’re getting close to the good stuff—and then they trap them. That’s what Land O’Lakes, the suburban Minneapolis agricultural giant, is doing. Read more on WSJ.
Mum’s the word? What are these school districts doing after a recent breach?
On November 15, ABC in Chicago reported that suburban school district Township High School District 211 experienced a security breach in which outgoing emails, phone calls, and text messages had been compromised over the weekend. Parents reported receiving offensive messages, some of which were sexual. On November 20, Patch reported that a teacher’s account in…
TX: Fraudsters who stole health information to fund spending spree plead guilty
KLTV reports: Two individuals have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain information from a protected computer in the Eastern District of Texas. Demetrius Cervantes, 46, of McKinney, and Amanda Lowry, 40, of Sherman, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain information from a protected computer on Dec. 3, 2020. Their co-conspirator, Lydia Henslee, 29, of Denison,…
TN: Personal information of some University of Memphis employees exposed in security breach
John Klyce reports: A security breach at the University of Memphis has caused private information of certain faculty and staff members to be compromised. In an email obtained by MBJ — dated Dec. 4 and sent to faculty and staff members — U of M CIO Robert Jackson said an individual had hacked into a university email account. While…
A dying man, a therapist and the ransom raid that shook the world
William Ralston reminds us how devastating the Vastaamo breach and ransom incident has been: Jukka-Pekka Puro will never forget 2017. Facing the heartbreak of a divorce, Puro, a university lecturer in Turku, southwestern Finland, found himself tussling with depression. This spiralled into suicidal ideations when doctors told him he had aggressive kidney cancer, and no…