Xavier La Canna reports: A new computer virus has begun spreading in Australia that references the Breaking Bad TV show in a ransom note demanding up to $1,000 to decrypt files it infects. A blog post from the Symantec anti-virus company on Sunday said the so-called crypto ransomware was a new threat to Australia. Read…
Estimated cost of breaches in 2020 is… staggering
According to InfoTechLead, Juniper Research’s figures put the global cost of data breaches at $2.1 trillion by 2019, and the average cost of a data breach at $150 million by 2020. Gulp.
British Snoops GCHQ Openly Recruiting Hackers As Government Seeks More Surveillance Powers
Thomas Fox-Brewster reports: Now that the Conservative Party has secured a majority government in the UK, it’s pushing ahead with plans to expand the surveillance state with the Communications Data Bill, also known as Snooper’s Charter, which would require communications providers from BT to Facebook to maintain records of customers’ internet activity, text messages and voice…
Ca: Kiewit laptop theft puts Bull Arm workers’ personal information at risk
CBC News reports: Construction company Kiewit is warning some employees at the Bull Arm work site to keep an eye on their credit after sensitive information was recently stolen from an employee. According to the company, personal information was on a laptop computer that was stolen from someone working in Kiewit’s payroll department on April 15. […] According…
Singapore: Govt’s IT networks beefed up after attack
Tham Yuen-c reports: A security breach of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) IT system last year was one of the more serious and advanced attacks against the Government’s IT networks. After it was detected, steps were taken immediately to isolate the affected devices, and security measures were implemented to strengthen the networks. Information and Communications…
UK: Fax errors lead to data breach at Northumbria NHS Trust
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust with an undertaking committing the trust to improving the way it handles patients’ information. The action comes after the trust mistakenly sent five faxes containing information relating to the care of several patients to a member of the public. The faxes should have been sent…