Jason Glassberg of Casaba Security writes: With the 2016-2017 school year already underway, it’s time to draw attention to an ongoing and very serious problem facing the US education system: our schools are ill-equipped to face the mounting threats posed by hackers. While the education system isn’t the worst US industry in terms of cybersecurity,…
FBI raids home of ex-College Board official in probe of SAT leak
Renee Dudley and John Shiffman report: Federal agents searched the home of a former employee-turned-outspoken critic of the College Board, the standardized testing giant, as part of an investigation into the breach of hundreds of questions from the SAT college entrance exam. The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized computers and other material on Friday from…
German Man Behind IRC-Controlled WordPress Botnet
Catalin Cimpanu reports: A German man is most likely behind a series of compromised WordPress websites that are linked together into a botnet and controlled with the help of a hidden IRC channel. It’s currently unknown how these sites are being compromised. According to WordFence, a vendor of security products for WordPress, the hacker works…
Hacker targets remote northern Alberta communities
Zoe Todd reports: A northern Alberta municipality is in emergency mode after a suspected computer hack. The Municipal District of the Opportunity No. 17 is concerned all its files were accessed, including personal and financial information, according to a public notice released by the municipality. Administrative staff say they first became aware of “suspicious activity” in July. Last Friday, the activity…
Opera server breach incident
Tarquin Wilton-Jones writes on Opera’s blog: Earlier this week, we detected signs of an attack where access was gained to the Opera sync system. This attack was quickly blocked. Our investigations are ongoing, but we believe some data, including some of our sync users’ passwords and account information, such as login names, may have been…
Prosthetic & Orthotic Care patient info remains publicly exposed
First, a quick update on the Athens Orthopedic Clinic breach: It took two requests, but I’m pleased to report that Pastebin removed three pastes with over 1,350 patients’ information. Those pastes were separate from an earlier paste with an additional 500 patients’ information. News outlets that continue to report that 500 patients’ information was exposed and put up for sale are, to…