Phishing scheme utilizes CAPTCHA against Microsoft users
Does anybody really like CAPTCHAS? Those little verification boxes on website login pages that ask you to check a box, or click on all the images with street lights…and then you do and somehow it still fails but if stick with it you can eventually log in, probably. Anyway, they are perhaps a necessary evil,… Read More
Cybersecurity Concerns for IoT and Healthcare
It honestly feels like most of the articles you find about data security, especially where pertaining to the Internet of Things (IoT), could easily begin with that famous Spider-Man quote about great power and responsibility. Because the IoT is capable of so many functions spread across vast global networks, it’s an apt adage. Always crucial… Read More
Ransomware attacks against sports and education
As the sports world gears back up again, it finds itself a target of ransomware, same as any other sector. ArbiterSports, which provides software to the NCAA and various other leagues and schools for referee management, announced a security incident involving ransomware this past July. The web applications that were affected here are responsible for… Read More
Genetic Data Protection and More Healthcare Breaches
More data breaches and privacy laws to hinder them are in the news this week. California continues to be proactive in this arena, as the Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA) is soon set to join CCPA in giving people more control over their data. In this case, the subject is biometric data: its collection, sale,… Read More
Back to School Cybersecurity Risks
As schools begin to reopen, many are adopting a hybrid format that blends online with traditional, in-person learning (that’s a weird thing to have to say). For those students engaging in the former, cyber risks will be more of an issue than they’ve ever had to deal with before. To that end, the FBI’s Portland… Read More
Exposed database affects millions of social media users
Everyone knows at this point, social media platforms draw cyber criminals like bears to honey…except these bears also have stingers. Mixed metaphors aside, it’s not surprising when a database with 235 million profiles gets exposed online. Containing accounts from Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube among others (many of which have had previous cybersecurity issues, to say… Read More
What will be the next big infosec issue?
Major cycles in cybersecurity come and go. Several years ago, we were covering nonstop stories about things like the payment card industry (PCI), thanks to mega breaches like Target and Home Depot. Payment terminal security was also a dominant trend…back when people still went into retail stores. These concerns naturally still exist, but these days… Read More
School Cybersecurity and Ransomware Attacks
As schools gradually begin to reopen, among all the other safety concerns pressing on districts, one risk that hasn’t subsided is the security of personal data. Even in this interim, data breaches have continued in education. Most recently we hear of ProctorU, an online exam platform, enduring a breach as part of 18 firms with… Read More
Big data, ethics, and their challenges
Here’s a pretty mind-blowing stat: by 2025, according to IDC, the worldwide collection of data will grow 61% to a total of 175 zettabytes. One of the issues that arises from this massive upward trend, already underway, is the growing relevance of ethical handling of the data. Approximately 55% of executives surveyed by NewVantage Partners… Read More
Examining the Twitter hack and cybersecurity failure
By now you’ve probably heard all about the Twitter hack from last week, when cyber criminals gained access to 130 Twitter accounts, including prominent names like Barack Obama and Bill Gates, and used them to run a Bitcoin scam. Social engineering is the given explanation in this case. Several employees with administrative access to internal… Read More