WDBJ in Virginia reports: The town of Christiansburg is offering free credit monitoring to more than 900 people after their information was compromised in a phishing scam. The scam targeted email accounts of three town employees which contained personally identifiable information from some members of the public, the town said in a news release. There…
The US Leans on Private Firms to Expose Foreign Hackers
William G. Rich reports: When the Democratic National Committee realized they had been hacked in April 2016, they turned to experts from a private company: the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. Within a day, the company had identified two Russian state-sponsored hacking groups inside the DNC network. Within a few weeks, it publicly explained its analysis in a…
Marriott says data breach compromised info of up to 500 million guests
Erik Ortiz reports: Marriott International said Friday that up to 500 million guests’ information may have been accessed as part of a data breach of its Starwood guest reservation database. The world’s largest hotel chain said it determined on Nov. 19 that an “unauthorized party” had accessed the database as early as 2014. Read more…
Allegiant Air customers say airline sent personal information to hundreds
Todd Ulrich reports: Some Allegiant Air customers claim the airline violated their privacy and shared their sensitive information. Customers who have used service and emotional support animals found out their personal email addresses were sent to hundreds of passengers. Action 9 consumer investigator Todd Ulrich reports a class action lawsuit is demanding the airline protect…
IL: Center for Vitreo-Retinal Diseases notifies more than 20,300 patients after ransomware attack
On November 16, the Center for Vitreo-Retinal Diseases in Illinois notified HHS of a breach that they coded as “unauthorized access/disclosure” involving PHI on the network server. Here is the notice on their web site that describes what the ransomware incident: The Center for Vitreo-Retinal Diseases has become aware of a potential data security incident…
After Microsoft complaints, Indian police arrest tech support scammers at 26 call centers
Catalin Cimpanu reports: New Delhi police have arrested 63 suspects in the last two months working and operating 26 call centers that were engaging in tech support scams, posing as tech support staff at Microsoft, Google, Apple, and other major tech companies. The raids on Delhi-based call centers have taken place over the last two…