Here’s the latest installment of the Hacks, Attacks and Breaches cybersecurity news update.
The Logically team provides top cyber security stories every week to keep you up to date on the latest news headlines on cybersecurity, hacking, computer security, ransomware and other cybersecurity threats.
Washington State Department of Licensing
Exploit: Hacking
Washington State Department of Licensing: Government Agency
Risk to Small Business: Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) experienced a data breach that has impacted approximately 650,000 former and current licensees. After discovering unexpected activity, the agency’s website was taken offline in January. At the time, no data loss was expected but that has since changed.
How it Could Affect Your Business: This trove of data combines business and personal information, making it especially useful and potentially profitable for the bad guys
AON
Exploit: Ransomware
AON: Insurer
Risk to Small Business: Insurance giant AON disclosed that it had suffered a cyberattack last week in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company said that it had discovered an incident that impacted some systems. AON does not suspect that there will be a material impact on clients or operations. The incident is suspected to involve ransomware. It is under investigation and the company has brought in outside experts.
How it Could Affect Your Business: Companies like this that hold or store large amounts of valuable data are high on cybercriminal shopping lists.
Monongalia Health System
Exploit: Hacking
Monongalia Health System: Healthcare Provider
Risk to Small Business: West Virginia healthcare organization Monongalia Health System (Mon Health) has announced another data breach. The company operators of Monongalia County General Hospital, Preston Memorial Hospital, Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital and other healthcare centers, is informing patients and staffers that they had data stolen in December 2021. This is the second breach announcement in 3 months for Mon Health. Attackers did not gain access to the organization’s health electronic records systems.
How it Could Affect Your Business: Every medical sector organization needs to take extra precautions against data-hungry cybercriminals to avoid a major HIPAA fine. Or two in this case.
Adafruit
Exploit: Insider Risk
Adafruit: Open-Source Hardware
Risk to Small Business: An employee’s publicly accessible GitHub repository is to blame for a data security breach at New York hardware developer Adafruit, resulting in exposure of information about some users on or before 2019. The company was quick to provide assurances that the data set did not contain any user passwords or financial information such as credit cards, but not so quick to send emails to impacted users, waiting until after publishing a notification on its blog that was picked up by media outlets.
How it Could Affect Your Business: Whether they’re malicious or not, insider actions can have a major effect on companies even if the insider no longer works there.
