- US schools gave kids laptops during the pandemic. Then they spied on them
October 11, 2021
When the pandemic started last year, countless forms of inequality were exposed – including the millions of American families who don’t have access to laptops or broadband internet. After some delays, schools across the country jumped into action and distributed technology to allow students to learn remotely. The catch? They ended up spying on students. ...
- Is it OK to use stolen data? What if it’s scientific research in the public interest?
September 20, 2021
There’s a fine line between getting hold of data that may be in the public interest and downright stealing data just because you can. And simply because the data is out there – having been stolen by online intruders and then leaked – does not mean it is right to use it. A paper published in ...
- Operation SpoofedScholars: Iranian hackers posed as academics in a bid to steal email passwords
July 13, 2021
An Iranian cyber espionage campaign used spoofed identities of real academics at a UK university in phishing attacks designed to steal password details of experts in Middle Eastern affairs from universities, think tanks and the media. Detailed by cybersecurity researchers at Proofpoint, who’ve dubbed it Operation SpoofedScholars, the campaign also compromised a university-affiliated website in an ...
- North Korean Kimsuky hacking group allegedly behind breach of South Korean nuclear institute
June 21, 2021
A North Korean hacking group with a history of high-profile attacks against South Korea allegedly breached the network of South Korea’s state-run nuclear research institute last month. Representative Ha Tae-keung of the People Power Party, South Korea’s main opposition party, claimed 13 unauthorised IP addresses accessed the internal network of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) ...
- Researchers create an ‘un-hackable’ quantum network over hundreds of kilometers using optical fiber
June 10, 2021
Researchers from Toshiba have successfully sent quantum information over 600-kilometer-long optical fibers, creating a new distance record and paving the way for large-scale quantum networks that could be used to exchange information securely between cities and even countries. Working from the company’s R&D lab in Cambridge in the UK, the scientists demonstrated that they could transmit ...
- Ryuk ransomware finds foothold in bio research institute through student who wouldn’t pay for software
May 6, 2021
Security researchers have provided insight into how a single student unwittingly became the conduit for a ransomware infection that cost a biomolecular institute a weeks’ worth of vital research. In a report due to be published on Thursday, Sophos described the case, in which the team was pulled in to neutralize an active cyberattack on a ...
- Cyberattack on UK university knocks out online learning, Teams and Zoom
April 16, 2021
The University of Hertfordshire has suffered a devastating cyberattack that knocked out all of its IT systems, including Office 365, Teams and Zoom, local networks, Wi-Fi, email, data storage and VPN. The university reported the hit by attackers on Wednesday, resulting in the cancellation of all online classes on Thursday and Friday. “Shortly before 22:00 on Wednesday ...
- Conti Gang Demands $40M Ransom from Florida School District
April 6, 2021
The Conti Gang has demanded a $40 million ransom from a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., school district after a ransomware attack last month. Attackers stole personal information from students and teachers, disrupted the district’s networks, and caused some services to be unavailable. The incident that was discovered on March 7 at Broward County Public Schools drew limited ...
- Ransomware gang leaks data from Stanford, Maryland universities
April 3, 2021
Personal and financial information stolen from Stanford Medicine, University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), and the University of California was leaked online by the Clop ransomware group. The threat actors obtained the documents after hacking the universities’ Accellion File Transfer Appliance (FTA) software used to share and store sensitive information. Data stolen in the attack targeting Stanford Medicine’s ...
- APT Charming Kitten Pounces on Medical Researchers
March 31, 2021
Security researchers have linked a late-2020 phishing campaign aimed at stealing credentials from 25 senior professionals at medical research organizations in the United States and Israel to an advanced persistent threat group with links to Iran called Charming Kitten. The campaign—dubbed BadBlood because of its medical focus and the history of tensions between Iran and Israel–aimed ...
- Harris Federation hit by ransomware attack affecting 50 schools
March 29, 2021
The IT systems and email servers of London-based nonprofit multi-academy trust Harris Federation were taken down by a ransomware attack on Saturday. Harris Federation is an education charity running 50 Harris primary and secondary academies with 37,000 students from London and surrounding areas. The attack hit the school trust’s systems over the weekend on Saturday, March 27, ...
- Ransomware gang leaks data stolen from Colorado, Miami universities
March 23, 2021
Grades and social security numbers for students at the University of Colorado and University of Miami patient data have been posted online by the Clop ransomware group. Starting in December, threat actors affiliated with the Clop ransomware operation began targeting Accellion FTA servers and stealing the data stored on them. Companies use these servers to share ...
- UK colleges and unis urged to prepare for ransomware before it’s too late
March 23, 2021
Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has urged universities, schools, and colleges to be vigilant following an increase in ransomware attacks targeting educational institutions. “While operational details cannot be disclosed, the NCSC has dealt with a significant increase in the number of attacks since late February, when establishments were preparing to welcome students back to the ...
- Oxford University lab with COVID-19 research links targeted by hackers
February 26, 2021
An Oxford University lab conducting research into the coronavirus pandemic has been compromised by cyberattackers. Oxford University, one of the most prominent educational institutions in the UK, was made aware of the security breach on Thursday. The university confirmed that a security incident took place at the Division of Structural Biology lab, also known as “Strubi,” after ...
- Lakehead University shuts down campus network after cyberattack
February 21, 2021
Canadian undergraduate research university Lakehead has been dealing with a cyberattack that forced the institution earlier this week to cut off access to its servers. The school’s services, including its website, have been down since Tuesday, with personnel shutting down computers on the Thunder Bay and Orillia campuses to stop the attack from spreading. In a communication ...
- Malware found on laptops given out by UK government
January 23, 2021
Some of the laptops given out in England to support vulnerable children home-schooling during lockdown contain malware, BBC News has learned. Teachers shared details on an online forum about suspicious files found on devices sent to a Bradford school. The malware, which they said appeared to be contacting Russian servers, is believed to have been found on ...
- CISA and FBI warn of rise in ransomware attacks targeting K-12 schools
December 11, 2020
In a joint security alert published on Thursday, the US Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, warned about increased cyber-attacks targeting the US K-12 educational sector, often leading to ransomware attacks, the theft of data, and the disruption of distance learning services. “As of December 2020, the FBI, CISA, and ...
- K12 online schooling giant pays Ryuk ransomware to stop data leak
December 2, 2020
Online education giant K12 Inc. has paid a ransom after their systems were hit by Ryuk ransomware in the middle of November. K12 creates tailored online learning curriculums for students to learn from home while in kindergarten through 12th grade. Over 1 million students have utilized K12 to learn from home rather than in traditional public ...
- Digitally Signed Bandook Trojan Reemerges in Global Spy Campaign
November 30, 2020
A wave of targeted cyberattack campaigns bent on espionage is cresting around the globe, using a strain of a 13-year old backdoor trojan named Bandook. According to Check Point Research, Bandook was last spotted being used in 2015 and 2017/2018, in the “Operation Manul” and “Dark Caracal” campaigns, respectively. The malware then all but disappeared from ...
- This new cyberattack can dupe DNA scientists into creating dangerous viruses and toxins
November 30, 2020
A new form of cyberattack has been developed which highlights the potential future ramifications of digital assaults against the biological research sector. On Monday, academics from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev described how “unwitting” biologists and scientists could become victims of cyberattacks designed to take biological warfare to another level. At a time where scientists worldwide ...
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