Alarming Cyberattacks from the Week of Sept 1st
The world of cybersecurity never sleeps, especially when threat actors are waiting on the opportunity to pounce on their next target. From public schools to critical national infrastructure, small restaurants, and MNCs, almost every industry has suffered some form of data breach to start-off September. Here are some of the most alarming cybersecurity news of the week:
Tulsa Tech discloses a massive breach of student data
Tulsa Technology Center, a public educational institute in Oklahoma has recently disclosed a security breach of their student records. Although details of the breach haven’t been disclosed yet, the organisation has confirmed that data belonging to students enrolled between 1986 to 1999 has been compromised. The stolen data included the student’s private information and social security numbers.
Tusla Tech sent out letters to the potential victims of the attack on August 18th, informing them about the potential impact of the breach and the legal steps they are obliged to carry out. The organisation has also reported that individuals affected by the breach will be compensated with free credit monitoring for a year.
The city of Tulsa has seen its fair share of cyberattacks in recent years. Earlier in 2021, residents of the city were prevented from paying their water bills after its utilities and e-services network experienced an attempted ransomware attack.
Samsung suffers data breach in the US
On 2nd September, electronics giant Samsung confirmed that their US sector has experienced a data breach affecting customers’ personal information. The organisation became aware of the breach in late July and was able to confirm its impact in August.
According to its brief statement, Samsung stated that an unauthorised third-party accessed its US database, and compromised the personal information of its customers, including their name, contact, date of birth, demographic data, and product registration info. However, Samsung has clarified that the customer’s credit card numbers and social security numbers were not affected.
DDoS attack on Yandex leads to massive traffic jam in Russia
In a rather unconventional security incident, attackers breached the ride-hailing software Yandex Taxi in Moscow and sent dozens of cars to the same location at the exact same time. The attackers bypassed Yandex’s security firewall and generated several fake requests directed at several drivers. The drivers were directed to a major avenue in Moscow, near the location of the ‘Hotel Ukraine’. This resulted in a three-hour-long traffic jam.
The Anonymous hacker group claimed responsibility for the attack via Twitter, citing their actions as a protest against Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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