Content by Doug Olenick

CISA Warns of Increased DDoS Attacks

Doug Olenick  •  September 10, 2020

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is warning of an increase in targeted distributed denial-of-service attacks against financial and government organizations worldwide. And security firms also are tracking the incidents in these and other sectors.

Ransomware and DDoS Attacks Disrupt More Schools

Doug Olenick  •  September 8, 2020

The start of classroom and online instruction at Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut was canceled Tuesday as a result of a ransomware attack - the latest in a series of online attacks, including distributed denial-of-service disruptions, that have interrupted some schools' return to teaching this fall.

Equifax: What's Changed Since the 2017 Mega-Breach?

Doug Olenick  •  September 7, 2020

In the three years since Equifax suffered a massive data breach, the consumer credit reporting firm says it has worked tirelessly to overhaul the security shortcomings that allowed the breach to happen. Equifax CISO Jamil Farshchi and other security experts weigh in on important lessons learned.

Tracking the Targets of 'Cybersquatting' Attacks

Doug Olenick  •  September 4, 2020

So-called "cybersquatting" attacks are surging, with financial and e-commerce websites - including those of PayPal, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of America and Amazon - among the most frequent targets, according to Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42.

FBI, CISA Reject Russian Claim US Voter Data Was Stolen

Doug Olenick  •  September 2, 2020

The FBI and CISA say that a Russian newspaper report that claims American voting data was stolen and then offered for sale in darknet forums is inaccurate. The agencies say the data offered for sale is already publicly available, and they portray the newspaper report as part of a disinformation campaign.

Morgan Stanley Hit With $5 Million Data Breach Suit

Doug Olenick  •  September 1, 2020

A $5 million lawsuit seeking class action status has been filed against Morgan Stanley, claiming the financial organization failed to properly safeguard personally identifiable information when the company discarded old computer equipment.

Lack of MFA May Have Enabled Sendgrid Account Compromise

Doug Olenick  •  August 29, 2020

Security professionals are expressing surprise that email service provider Sendgrid did not have multifactor authentication in place to protect its customer accounts, which may have enabled the compromise of a large number of accounts, followed by the sale data on the darknet.

New Zealand Stock Exchange Trades Again After DDoS

Doug Olenick  •  August 27, 2020

The New Zealand Stock Exchange resumed trading in the early afternoon on Friday after the impacts of distributed denial-of-service disruptions reverberated into a fourth day. The hobbling of the exchange's trading has demonstrated that DDoS attacks remain an unpredictable threat.

As Classes Resume, Schools Face Ransomware Risk

Doug Olenick  •  August 26, 2020

Cybersecurity professionals expect a spike in ransomware attacks against school districts and universities this fall as new hybrid learning environments go online and unpatched equipment that has spent months in the homes of students and faculty is reconnected to school networks.

Massive Freepik Data Breach Tied to SQL Injection Attack

Doug Olenick  •  August 24, 2020

Freepik Co. says an SQL injection attack led to the leak of 8.3 million email addresses and 3.7 million hashed passwords for users of its Freepik graphic resources app and Flaticon icon database platform.

University of Utah Pays Ransom to Avoid Data Disclosure

Doug Olenick  •  August 21, 2020

The University of Utah paid a $457,000 ransom to stop a hacker from disclosing data stolen in a July ransomware attack on the network of its College of Social and Behavioral Science.

Final Report: More 2016 Russian Election Hacking Details

Doug Olenick  •  August 18, 2020

The Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday released its fifth and final report on Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 election, providing more details on how Russian hackers resided on Democratic National Commitee servers for months and citing shortcomings in the FBI's investigation.

Copycat Hacking Groups Launch DDoS Attacks

Doug Olenick  •  August 18, 2020

Copycats using well-known threat actor names, such as Fancy Bear and Armada Collective, are launching extortion campaigns tied to distributed denial-of-service attacks against financial institutions, according to Akamai's Security Intelligence Research Team.

North Korean Hackers Wage Job-Themed Spear-Phishing Attacks

Doug Olenick  •  August 14, 2020

Hackers with suspected ties to North Korea's government are conducting a cyber espionage campaign that's circulating "job opportunity" spear-phishing emails targeting employees of defense contractors, according to the security firm ClearSky.

Maze Reportedly Posts Exfiltrated Canon USA Data

Doug Olenick  •  August 12, 2020

The Maze ransomware group has posted on its darknet website some data it claims it stole during a recent attack against Canon USA, according to the security firm Emsisoft.