WBRC reports: A ransomware attack targeted the Jefferson County School System in Alabama over Spring Break. A news release states the district’s technology team took immediate steps to stop the attack and notified state and local authorities. Preliminary investigations have not revealed any evidence of a breach of sensitive personally identifiable information. However, the district…
Today’s “Don’t Say ‘Ransomware’ Award” goes to….
DataBreaches probably sounds like a broken record after six years of calls for more transparency in breach notifications. Sadly, the situation has gotten worse in the past year. Not only do entities fail to admit they suffered a ransomware attack, but they fail to inform patients if the patient’s protected health information was leaked or…
Fake ransomware gang targets U.S. orgs with empty data leak threats
Ionut Ilascu reports: Fake extortionists are piggybacking on data breaches and ransomware incidents, threatening U.S. companies with publishing or selling allegedly stolen data unless they get paid. Sometimes the actors add the menace of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack if the message recipient does not comply with the instructions in the message. Read more about…
‘Vulkan files’ leak reveals Putin’s global and domestic cyberwarfare tactics
Luke Harding, Stiliyana Simeonova, Manisha Ganguly, and Dan Sabbagh at The Guardian provide some background on the Vulkan Files: ….. The Vulkan files, which date from 2016 to 2021, were leaked by an anonymous whistleblower angered by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Such leaks from Moscow are extremely rare. Days after the invasion in February last…
FDA requires medical devices be secured against cyberattacks
Jennifer Korn reports: The Food and Drug Administration will now require medical devices meet specific cybersecurity guidelines after years of concerns that a growing number of internet-connected products used by hospitals and healthcare providers could be hit by hacks and ransomware attacks. Under FDA guidance issued this week, all new medical device applicants must now submit a…
Agencies hunt for hacker “9Near” (updated)
The Bangkok Post reports: Authorities are hunting down a hacker who has threatened to release the personal data of 55 million Thais if the government agency allegedly involved in the leakage of information fails to meet a ransom demand by April 5. Read more at The Bangkok Post. See also Thaiger. As of publication time,…