Governors of numerous states have issued Executive Orders in the past several weeks banning TikTok from government-issued devices and many have already implemented a ban, with others considering similar measures. There is also bi-partisan support of a ban in the Senate, which unanimously approved a bill last week that would ban the app from devices
State Bar of Georgia Reveals Security Incident to Employees and Members
By Linn Foster Freedman on
The State Bar of Georgia recently disclosed that it was the victim of a cybersecurity incident in April 2022, when an unauthorized individual accessed its systems and compromised the data of current and former employees and “some members of the State Bar.”
The incident included unauthorized disclosure of individuals’ names, addresses, dates of birth, Social…
U.S. Agricultural Machinery Manufacturer Hit with Ransomware Attack
By Kathryn Rattigan on
Posted in New + Now
This week, AGCO, a U.S. agricultural machinery manufacturer, suffered a ransomware attack that affected its business operations and shut down its systems.
AGCO, headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, designs, produces, and sells tractors, combines, foragers, hay tools, self-propelled sprayers, smart farming technologies, seeding and tillage equipment. AGCO first discovered this attack through its subsidiary, Massey-Ferguson, when…
Privacy Tip #320 – 2021 Goes Down as Top Year for Fraud
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
2021 will go down in our minds as many things, including the year in which more people reported fraud and the highest dollar amount of fraud losses in history. Not a great statistic.
According to the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2021 (the Data Book), the FTC received 5.7 million reports from…
School Nutrition Vendor Sued for Compromise of 867,209 K-12 Student Records
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in New + Now
PCS Revenue Control Systems, Inc. (PCS) was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit last week alleging that it discovered a data breach from a hacking attack in December 2019 but failed to notify the affected students until March of 2021.
According to the lawsuit, student information was collected by PCS’s predecessor, Advanced Business Technologies…
Ransomware Attack Affects Georgia County Election Administration System
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
Hall County, Georgia reported on October 7, 2020, that it was the victim of a ransomware attack that disrupted some of its systems, including email and telephone services in public buildings and the sheriff’s offices. Last week, the county indicated that in addition to telephone and email services, the ransomware attack also affected the county’s…
Jackson County, Georgia Pays Hackers $400,000 After Ransomware Attack
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
Cities and towns continue to be a profitable target for successful ransomware attacks. As we previously reported [view related posts], the list of cities and towns getting hit with ransomware attacks continues to grow.
Last week, Jackson County, Georgia admitted that it paid hackers $400,000 to obtain access to its information that was locked…
Technology Boost Helps Protect Super Bowl LIII
By Guest Contributor on
Posted in Drones
The biggest sporting event of the year is now over— and the Patriots, with the help of NFL super duo Tom Brady (the oldest quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl) and Bill Belichick (the oldest head coach to ever win the Super Bowl) took the title—New England’s sixth since 2002.
Over 100 million people…
Two Federal Criminal Convictions for Cyber-Attacks
By Dan Sullivan on
Posted in Cybersecurity, Enforcement + Litigation
The month of August saw two federal criminal convictions of individuals involved in significant cyberattacks.
In Boston, a federal jury convicted Martin Gottesfeld of one count of conspiracy to intentionally damage a protected computer and one count of intentional damage to protected computers. The charges resulted from 2014 Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks on…