Imagine a criminal gaining unrestricted access to your child’s most private information — medical records, Social Security numbers and even details about their daily bus ride to school. This alarming scenario is becoming a reality for a growing number of families as sophisticated cybercriminals increasingly target schools across the United States, holding their computer systems and private data hostage.
Data gathered by K12 Security Information Exchange, known as K12 SIX, a nonprofit focused on protecting schools from cybersecurity threats, and analyzed by CBS News, shows that there have been hundreds of ransomware attacks on districts since 2016.
Read more…
Source: CBS News
Related:
- U.S. Escalates Online Attacks on Russia’s Power Grid
June 15, 2019
The United States is stepping up digital incursions into Russia’s electric power grid in a warning to President Vladimir V. Putin and a demonstration of how the Trump administration is using new authorities to deploy cybertools more aggressively, current and former government officials said. In interviews over the past three months, the officials described the previously ...
- Goznym Malware: Cybercriminal Network Dismantled In International Operation
May 16, 2019
An unprecedented, international law enforcement operation has dismantled a complex, globally operating and organised cybercrime network. The criminal network used GozNym malware in an attempt to steal an estimated $100 million from more than 41 000 victims, primarily businesses and their financial institutions. A criminal Indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, USA charges ...
- DHS Orders Federal Agencies to Patch Critical Flaws Within 15 Days
May 1, 2019
In recent years, we have seen how hackers prey on those too lazy or ignorant to install security patches, which, if applied on time, would have prevented some devastating cyber attacks and data breaches that happened in major organisations. The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ordered government agencies to more swiftly plug the ...
- Unprotected Database Exposes Personal Info of 80 Million American Households
April 30, 2019
A team of security researchers has claims to have found a publicly-accessible database that exposes information on more than 80 million U.S. households—nearly 65 percent of the total number of American households. Discovered by VPNMentor’s research team lead by hacktivists Noam Rotem and Ran Locar, the unsecured database includes 24GB of extremely detailed information about individual ...
- EU: No evidence of Kaspersky spying despite ‘confirmed malicious’ classification
April 16, 2019
In a document published today, the European Commission has revealed that they don’t have any actual evidence of Kaspersky software being used for spying on behalf of the Russian government, as the US government alluded in 2017. The document was the Commission’s reply to a series of questions submitted by Gerolf Annemans, a European Parliament member on behalf ...
- Mystery of the Chinese woman who allegedly tried to sneak into Trump’s Mar-a-Lago with a USB stick of malware
April 2, 2019
A Chinese woman was caught sneaking into President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club with a thumb drive of malware, it was claimed yesterday. Yujing Zhang, 32, was collared after possibly trying to slip into a bash at the swanky resort promoted by Li “Cindy” Yang, the former massage parlor boss who denies allegations she sold access to the president and his ...