Gordon Corera reports: Some UK think tanks were hacked by China-based groups last year, a US cyber-security company which said it investigated the breaches has claimed. Crowdstrike said it saw the repeated targeting of think tanks specialising in international security and defence issues, beginning in April 2017. Read more on BBC.
UK: Hackers break into schools’ CCTV system and stream footage of pupils live on the internet
James Tozer reports: Happily chatting and walking between lessons, these children are being watched by school spy cameras designed for their protection. Now it has emerged that the images can be viewed by anyone after the CCTV systems were hacked and put online. A disturbing website, which boasts ‘Watch live surveillance cameras in the UK’,…
EDUCAUSE Challenges the US DOE’s Guidance on Data Breach Reporting
Kathleen Dion of Robinson & Cole writes: On January 30, 2018, EDUCAUSE, a higher education technology association, submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Education describing concerns that it had with the Federal Student Aid (“FSA”) ability to protect federal student financial aid data. EDUCAUSE’s members include IT professionals from over 1,800 colleges and…
University of Alaska data breach affects employees, students
KTVA reports: A data breach at the University of Alaska has affected dozens of current and former employees and students according to university officials, who say action is being taken on the matter. According to a UA statement, word first reached security officials when users started reporting “an inability to access their password-protected Alaska.edu accounts.”…
Ransomware attacks hit two Ontario children’s aid societies
Sandro Contenta reports: Ransomware attacks at two children’s aid societies have spurred the Ontario government to tighten cybersecurity around a new, $123-million provincial database for children in care. One of the agencies — the Children’s Aid Society of Oxford County — paid a $5,000 ransom to regain access to their sensitive data after the malware…
NZ: Cryptolocker malware hits Inland Revenue, locks 3500 files
Rob O’Neill reports: Thousands of Inland Revenue files were locked up after New Zealand’s tax department became the target of a cryptolocking attack in November. IRD said that in addition to the phishing emails targeting customers, the department also regularly receives phishing emails attempting to obtain money or information or to compromise the Inland Revenue…