Cybersecurity researchers recently uncovered an unsecured Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) bucket containing nearly 1 million records of sensitive high school student academic information. The exposed data included GPA, ACT, SAT, and PSAT scores, unofficial transcripts, student IDs, students’ and parents’ names, email addresses, home addresses, and phone numbers – plus pictures and videos of students’ athletic…
Patient data was exposed after hackers were able to gain access to the Excel spreadsheet where it was stored through an employee account compromise. Undetected for over 3 weeks, the spreadsheet contained patient information, including names, contact information, and a host of other sensitive data that varied by patient. No word on what else the…
A customer database containing information for BMW owners in the UK was recently discovered for sale by cybersecurity researchers, The database was offered in an underground forum by the Kelvin Security Group, a well-known hacking group responsible for several major data sales in the last few months. The available information included customer names, emails, addresses, vehicle numbers, dealer names, and other information. The…
Twitter sent a notification to business clients last week acknowledging a data breach that exposed the personal and billing information of some users. The breach occurred due to an issue that led to some users’ sensitive information being stored in the browser’s cache. Twitter explained that it recently became aware of this issue. Business users were warned that prior to May 20, 2020, if you viewed…
What we learned from the current pandemic is that we must be prepared to institute remote work policies on short notice. A robust Business Continuity Plan (BCP) should include an IT management solution that ensures smooth operations in case employees have to abruptly switch to remote work. The right remote management and monitoring (RMM) solution…
An employee failed to identify a phishing scam, interacting with the message and giving hackers access to patient data between January 22, 2020, and January 24, 2020. However, the incident wasn’t reported until March 22nd, as the company struggled to dedicate resources to cybersecurity while it transitioned to remote work. In total, the breach is…
A ransomware attack encrypted CivicSmart’s network and exfiltrated company and customer data. The attack, which took place in March, was identified when hackers threatened to publish 159 gigabytes of sensitive data online. To prevent publication, the company paid an undisclosed ransom, and the files were brought offline. However, CivicSmart can’t rest easy. Despite promises to delete the information, it’s…
Artificial Intelligence is becoming a key component of business transformation. Virtually, any business leader seeking to unlock value and develop new capabilities using technology is at some stage of the AI journey. For example, those at the leading edge have incorporated machine learning insights into business processes and are building functionality such as Natural Language Processing (NLP)…
Do you know that Microsoft has a disclaimer for data loss in their terms of service that indemnifies them of any responsibility for customer data loss due to user errors and results of software designed with malicious intentions such as malware, viruses, ransomware, etc.? Microsoft ensures data availability through multiple servers and data replication, which…
