List of data breaches and cyber attacks in September 2016

September last year saw one of the year’s longest monthly lists, and that seems to be the case this year, too.

Over the last week, cyber security issues have been brought to the world’s attention by a massive data breach at Yahoo, which resulted in the details of 500 million user accounts being leaked. However, that breach occurred in 2014 and doesn’t make this month’s list.

This month’s list is characterised by a large number of data breaches that were caused by an insider either making a mistake or acting with malicious intent.

An important lesson from this month is that information security extends beyond the digital. No matter how advanced your cyber controls, you are still likely to suffer a breach if you are careless enough to throw sensitive documents into public bins.

While being foolhardy with confidential documents might not leave you as vulnerable as a digital breach, your organisation could still be slapped with a €20 million fine under the terms of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into force in 2018.

Here are this month’s data breaches and cyber attacks.

Data breach

Florida Bar Association hacked, members’ data leaked

6.6 million plaintext passwords exposed as site gets hacked to the bone

Russian hackers leak Simone Biles and Serena Williams files

Russian internet giant Rambler.ru hacked, leaking 98 million accounts

OneLogin security breach – Secure Notes exposed

Armenian Hackers leak Azerbaijani banking and military data

Alberta College of Paramedics privacy breach puts information of thousands of members at risk

UC San Diego School of Medicine notifying trainees whose SSNs were exposed on the Internet

Napa Valley Dentistry notifies patients after theft of server from storage facility

Dozens of clinics, thousands of patients impacted by third-party data leak

University of Ottawa missing hard drive with data on 900 students

County acknowledges ‘possible security breach’ of courthouse computers

Privacy breach shows names and addresses of military personnel’s families

County health care agency reports breach of patient data

Codman Square Health Center notifies members after breach at NEHEN

KidsPeace announces possible client information breach

Saint Francis investigating security breach

Personal information of La Joya ISD teachers accidentally released

CalOptima notifies members of breach 8 months later

Data breach in Oconee Co. causes employee pay issues

St. Elizabeth Physicians’ email gaffe exposed patient email addresses

Geisinger Health Plan notifies 2800 that processing error exposed their PHI to others

BDSwiss employee data allegedly stolen, investigations pending

Russian hackers release more confidential athlete data; WADA confirms

Trump’s campaign mute about data security #fail

Computer breach could have exposed trauma victims to further anguish

NBTC to probe alleged privacy breach by AIS employee

EurekAlert! goes offline following attack

Laptop stolen from U.S. Healthwork was encrypted but ,alas, the password was with it

VoIPtalk admits to possible data breach

One of Portland’s largest financial firms warns of possible data breach

King of Prussia Dental Associates and Pediatric Dentistry of Collegeville notify patients after finding computer intrusion

‘Massive data breach’ at Almelo municipality

eThekwini shuts down e-services after user data leak

Owen Smith tweets login data to 16,000 followers

DHS exposes thousands of individuals’ private information — including feds, golfers and priests

Mat-Su campus hit by data breach

‘Variety’ hacked by OurMine, subscribers inundated with email

Network security breach with Milwaukee VA affiliate

Cyber attack & ransomware

Notice of data incident at Stallcup & Associates, CPAs

Keck Medical Center of USC discloses ransomware attack

Kennesaw State student hacks system, changes grades, steals data

Hacker tries to ransom housing authority data

Maplewood tax firm hacked; data held for ransom

University Gastroenterology notifies patients of ransomware attack

Hackers holding school computers hostage

Cyberattack cripples Appalaches school board, cancer support group

Al Zahra Private Medical Centre hacked

Computer hackers demanded ransom payment from Derriford Hospital

Misfortune cookie: Mr. Chow restaurants website hacked to distribute ransomware

Financial

AF Smith warns customers of data breach fear

China hackers swipe millions in data breach

Someone just lost 324k payment records, complete with CVVs

Abilene police reveal details of restaurant credit card fraud

McDonald’s employee stole about 100 credit card numbers while working drive-thru

Massive unreported security breach, $2 million alleged fraud at NorQuest College

PoS vendor Lightspeed suffers data breach

Other

MarsJoke ransomware targets the government and K-12 educational sector

A single ransomware network has pulled in $121 million

Tesla issues software update after hackers report remote brake hack

Seagate faced with class-action lawsuit following whaling scam

Wells Fargo fined $185 million for phony account fraud – 5,300 employees fired

Fighting back

Romanian national sentenced to three years in prison for role in computer hacking scheme

Kosovo hacker gets 20 years in U.S. for helping Islamic State militants

Teenager to appear in court over alleged hack and data theft

Ex-LV employee in court over data leak

Guilty plea of Krystle Steed for taking over hospital patients’ bank accounts

 

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Trends and traits of data breaches

To help you understand the trends and traits of data breaches, what they are, how and why they occur, and what you can do to avoid suffering a similar fate, take a look at our book of the month: Managing Information Security Breaches – Studies from real life by Michael Krausz.

This thought-provoking guide details how breaches can be treated and the direction you should take if you’ve been affected.

Buy your copy now.

Share now…

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If there’s anything that I’ve missed, please let me know by using either the comment box below or tweeting me.