Following three separate data breaches between 2021 and 2023 which exposed the proprietary information (PI) of TracFone Wireless customers, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that the Verizon-owned company has agreed to pay a $16 million civil penalty to settle the government investigation, and it has made an agreement to improve its application programming interface (API) security.
TracFone Wireless Inc. is an American prepay wireless service provider wholly owned by Verizon. TracFone services are used by the brands Straight Talk, Total by Verizon Wireless, and Walmart Family Mobile. The settlement ends an investigation into TracFone’s security practices to uncover whether the breaches were the result of ineffective cybersecurity protocols.
Read more…
Source: Malwarebytes Labs
Related:
- Australian defence contractor Austal hit by data breach
November 1, 2018
Australian prime defence contractor and shipbuilder Austal informed the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) of a data breach after the market closed on Thursday evening. The company said it alerted “stakeholders” who were potentially hit by the breach, but said no information affecting national security or the company’s operations was stolen, although a number of staff emails and ...
- Millions of Voter Records Up for Sale Ahead of the US Midterm Elections
October 30, 2018
As the US midterm elections close in, the underground markets appear to be flush with voter databases available for affordable prices. Voter information is rich with details that could help an attacker learn enough about the victim to steal their identity. Cybersecurity company Carbon Black, at least one market on the dark web lists for sale voter ...
- Why website maintenance is essential for small businesses’ cyber-security
October 29, 2018
Investing time in ongoing website maintenance is a key way to ensure that your small business website is as protected as it can be against cyber-security threats. October 2018 is Cyber Security Awareness Month, an annual campaign which aims to raise awareness of cyber-security threats. Research from the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2018 shows that four ...
- Cathay Pacific Data Breach Highlights A Need To Change Airline Security Focus
October 25, 2018
Cathay Pacific has been hit by a data breach affecting 9.4 million passengers of Cathay and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, a serious exposure that shows—not for the first time—that the focus of airline security can’t be limited to airport terminals and aircraft cabins. First discovered in March, and confirmed in May of this year, the Cathay Pacific ...
- British Airways: If you’re feeling left out of our 380,000 passenger hack, then you may be one of another 185,000 victims
October 25, 2018
British Airways’ horror hack is worse than first thought: the world’s favorite airline has added 185,000 cardholders to the pile of 380,000 potentially caught up in the IT security breach. In September, it emerged that hackers spent two weeks slurping the personal and payment card data of people who booked travel via BA’s website and mobile application. As ...
- HealthCare.gov system hack leaves 75,000 individuals exposed
October 20, 2018
A hack was detected earlier this month in a government computer system that works alongside HealthCare.gov, exposing the personal information of approximately 75,000 people, according to the agency in charge of the portal. In a statement to CNN, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said the system that was exposed through the hack was ...