Tag: Cybercrime
Survey shows one in four schools were victims of cyberattacks in previous year
January 5, 2023SSN Staff
SAN FRANCISCO – Clever, a digital learning platform, has released research suggesting that one in four schools, and millions of students were affected by cyberattacks last year.
Cybersecure 2023, a survey of 4,000 school administrators and teachers, has compiled a wealth of data on cybercrime targeted at schools over the past year, and how those two groups view those vulnerabilities differently. As a result three out of four polled districts plan to increase spending on security and...
Joint statement issued by U.S.-Mexico Working Group on cyber issues
August 19, 2022Ken Showers, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico Working Group on Cyber Issues has released a joint statement following a bilateral cyber dialogue on their shared commitment to a secure and stable internet.
In the note issued by the U.S. Office of the Spokesperson for the Department of State, it refers to the meeting held on August 10 as, “…its first bilateral cyber dialogue since the establishment of the U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities.”...
DOJ seizes $2.3 million in cryptocurrency paid by Colonial Pipeline to hackers
June 8, 2021SSN Staff
WASHINGTON—The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on June 7, 2021, that it seized 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at approximately $2.3 million, allegedly representing the proceeds of a May 8 ransom payment made by Colonial Pipeline to cybercriminal group DarkSide.
The DOJ’s announcement of the seizure of funds came just one month after Colonial Pipeline suffered a devastating ransomware attack on May 6 at the hands of DarkSide in what was arguably the largest cyberattack against...
Cyberattacks skyrocket, U.S. companies targeted
August 18, 2020Ginger Hill
When I hear the word “skyrocket,” it always reminds me of fireworks bursting overhead, spraying beautiful, illuminating dots and sparkles of color across a black nature canvas. However, when it comes to cyberattacks, there’s nothing beautiful at all about them; they’re detrimental.
Take a moment to really think about these malicious assaults that gain unauthorized access to a victim’s device. Sensitive data can be stolen, computers completely taken over and harmful...
Zoom “zooms” up its lax security
July 1, 2020Ginger Hill
COVID has taken the physical world virtual. As stay-at-home orders abounded, and quite frankly, should still be observed, along with wearing masks, social distancing and washing of hands, colleagues, family, friends, clubs and other groups hit the virtual world to do business, stay connected and attempt to have some sort of calmness amid pure chaos. At the same time, threat actors and cybercriminals were at the ready, armed with a playbook of schemes to run interference.
The platform of...
Cybercriminals target remote workers during pandemic
April 1, 2020
YARMOUTH, Maine—As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the current cybercrime landscape is focused on businesses of all sizes as more and more employees are working from home per government protocols to contain, control and remedy the virus. Cybercriminals are actively phishing, and vishing and smishing, too, and the hyper risk presented right now to small businesses — such as some security manufacturers, integrators and consultants — as they are the entities that cannot afford to purchase...
Weak passwords and ransomware infections go hand-in-hand
January 22, 2020Ginger Hill
Did you know — the first ransomware attack happened in 1989 by Joseph L. Popp, a Harvard-trained evolutionary biologist? As history tells us, Popp created the AIDS Trojan, known as the PC Cyborg, and sent 22,000 infected diskettes, labeled “AIDS Information - Introductory Diskettes,” to an international AIDS conference.
Unsuspiciously, the diskette did educate the user, but it also infected the user's computer. After approximately 90 reboots, the virus would encrypt files...
100 Women in 100 Days Cybersecurity Career Accelerator announces next class
November 21, 2019SSN Staff
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—The free cybersecurity training and accreditation program, 100 Women in 100 Days (100w100d), founded and managed by Sacramento-based cyber risk consulting firm, Inteligenca, will help another 100 students reboot their careers at Japan's Saya University.
“The opportunity with Saya shows that people around the world recognize the need to get more women into the cybersecurity field,” Inteligenca CEO Carmen Marsh said in the announcement. “We are witnessing...
What images and color(s) represent the word 'cybersecurity'?
November 19, 2019Ginger Hill
Some studies have found that the human brain actually processes words by recognizing each word heard through the ears and seen with the eyes as an individual picture. I know when I'm listening to a podcast or lecture, the radio, reading something, etc. and I hear or see a word that is delightful to me, my mind engages, blooming a series of images that represent that word. In other words, I see pictures in my mind related to what I heard or saw.
Let's say, for example, you just heard the...
Are you and your company ready for a cyberattack or data breach?
November 6, 2019Ginger Hill
Kind of like the once elusive sound of a car alarm in a packed parking lot in the 80s to the flooded number of parked cars with car alarms today, as is the discussion of cyberattacks, cybercrimes, data breaches and such.
I remember being around seven years old and in our local K-Mart parking lot with my mom, when a sound emerged from somewhere among the parked cars. That's the first time I had ever heard a car alarm. Today, a car alarm is an annoyance at best and not really “heard”...