• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Jobs
  • Career
    • Cyber Security Training
    • Work from Home
    • Cyber Security Analyst
    • Remote Work – Six Ways to Keep Your Data Safe When Working Remotely
  • Field Guide
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Deals
  • News
AskCyberSecurity.com

AskCyberSecurity.com

Cyber Security News & Information

  • Home
  • Data Privacy
    • Gamers
    • Government Cyber Security
      • Legislation
      • Standards
        • What are the risks of computer security?
        • Medical Cyber Security
    • Social Media
  • Security
    • Data Breaches
    • Scams
    • Malware
  • Software
    • Apps
    • Web Browsers
  • Glossary
    • Cyber Security Acronyms
  • About Ask Cyber Security
    • Authors
    • Contact Us
  • VPN
    • How Do I Know If My VPN is Working?
    • Best Free VPN iPhone
    • Why Use a VPN?
    • NordVPN vs IPVanish
    • Private Internet Access Download
    • Best VPN for Streaming
      • TikTok VPN
    • VPN Porn
    • Computer Security Software – What You Really Need
  • Tutorials
  • ChatGPT
    • Does ChatGPT Save Data?
AskCyber Home » News » News » Cyber Security News 26 July 2019

Cyber Security News 26 July 2019

2019-07-26 by Michelle Dvorak

Cyber Security News 26 July 2019

Equifax Massive Data Breach Results in Financial Settlements, Bulgarian Data Breach Suspects Arrested, South African City Power Impacted by Ransomware Attack

Equifax Data Breach Results in FTC Settlement

Equifax reached a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission. Equifax will have to pay $700 million to compensate for a massive data breach which affected about 147 million people.

Equifax was hacked after failing to keep its IT system up-to-date with the latest security patches leaving the system vulnerable to a cyber attack. In 2017, Hackers breached the system and stole about 147 million names, and birthdates, including 145.5 million Social Security numbers, and 209,000 payment card numbers. About 700,000, UK consumer records were also compromised.

Beginning in 2020, all U.S. consumers will be entitled to six free Equifax credit reports each year for the next seven years. They are also entitled to cash payments from $125 up to $20,000. The Equifax settlement is awaiting approval from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

WebRoot cyber sec

Over 100,000 University of Western Australia alumni were notified that their data may have been compromised after hardware was taken from a university building. The alert was sent by the university’s Vice Chancellor, Dawn Freshwater. She reported that thieves stole twenty laptop computers from a campus administration building. The theft occurred in late June and was reported to police. The laptops are password protected. The stolen data mostly affects applicants who applied to the University of Western Australia between 1988 and January 2018.

The University of Western Australia, a public research university, is located in Perth in the state of Western Australia. The stolen data includes tax file numbers, student identification numbers, and in some cases names, birthdates, and passport information. No banking or credit card information was compromised.

Ransomware Impacts South Africa’s City Power

A ransomware attack has crippled the operations of City Power, a South African utility company. The ransomware blocked customers from purchasing electricity through City Power’s prepaid vending system and also inhibited the utility’s ability to respond to service calls. The corporate database was compromised which affected most applications and networks leaving customers unable to use the website. City Power is located in Johannesburg, South Africa and is one of the area’s largest power suppliers.

Ransomware attacks continue to infect cities and universities. In the past two months three Florida cities were hacked in ransomware cyber attacks. Two of those cities, Riviera Beach and Lake City, opted to pay hackers their ransom to have data restored. The city of Baltimore, Maryland, Indiana’s La Porte County, and Lawrenceville, Georgia all were attacked by hackers. Universities have also been recent targets with Northwest Indian College and New York City’s Monroe College both reporting cyber attacks.

Heimdel Malware Protection
Heimdel Malware Protection

Two Bulgarians Charged for Hacking Ministry of Finance

Two employees at a Bulgarian cyber security research firm, Tad Group, have been charged in connection to the massive data theft from Bulgaria’s Ministry of Finance. The breach affects almost five million Bulgarian citizens. Tad Group employees, Georgi Yankov and Kristian Boykov, were both charged with terrorism. Boykov was initially charged with crimes against information systems, but that charge was dropped and changed.

Hacked data from Bulgarian citizens, foreigners, and businesses contain financial information, personally identifiable numbers, tax returns, addresses, and income history. With only seven million citizens, this data breach affects almost everyone in Bulgaria. Compromised data also includes files from the European Union’s anti VAT fraud network, EUROFISC, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Finance tax agency, the National Revenue Agency, may face a maximum of 20 million Euros (about $22.5 million USD.)

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Equifax, ransomware

About Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers


LinkedInTwitterFacebook

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Our Free Newsletter

We Don't Share or Sell Your Info

Web Browsers

Where Are My Saved Passwords in Chrome?

Google Removes 70 Malicious Browser Add-ons from Chrome Web Store

Firefox 75 Reports Your Browser Settings to Mozilla

Categories

Cyber Security Field Guide

Computer Security While TravelingGet Our Cyber Security Field Guide - Available on Amazon!

Recent Posts

Security Marketing Manager – Remote

Sr. Associate, Cybersecurity Architect – Pfizer

Strategic Customer Success Manager – Cybersecurity – Opportunity for Working Remotely

Top 20 Passwords Leaked on Dark Web

ISU Cybersecurity Leader Job Opening

Cyber Security News

Top 20 Passwords Leaked on Dark Web

… [Read More...] about Top 20 Passwords Leaked on Dark Web

Apple Warns of Actively Exploited Zero-Day Flaw

… [Read More...] about Apple Warns of Actively Exploited Zero-Day Flaw

IRS Stops Facial Recognition System for Online Access

… [Read More...] about IRS Stops Facial Recognition System for Online Access

National Cybersecurity Alliance Announces Data Privacy Week

… [Read More...] about National Cybersecurity Alliance Announces Data Privacy Week

More Cyber Security News

Tags

amazon Android Apple bitcoin China chrome CISA credit card DarkSide DHS DOJ Equifax Europe Facebook facial recognition FBI Firefox FTC games GDPR Google Government hacker identity theft India iPhone Iran IRS LinkedIn Microsoft North Korea PayPal phishing phishing email ransomware REvil Russia smartphone T-Mobile TikTok tutorial VPN WhatsApp WiFi Windows

Government

CBP Looks to Access Airline Passenger Data

FTC Releases Cyber Threat Video Playlist

Malware Found on US Government Funded Phones

UK NCA Reaches Out to Youth to Deter Cybercrimes

More Posts from this Category

Footer

Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Authors
  • Newsletter Signup
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Search

Why Use a VPN?

NordVPN vs IPVanish VPN Review

NAVIGATION

  • Data Breaches
  • Data Privacy
  • Gamers
  • Scams
  • Malware

MEMBER NJCCIC

New Jersey Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell

STAY CONNECTED

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • RSS

Copyright © 2023 · AskCyberSecurity.com · METRONY, LLC

Go to mobile version