July 06, 2022
An insider incident causes trouble for OpenSea, cybercriminals claim to have scored data from AMD and ransomware stops the presses at Macmillan plus.
Geographic Solutions Inc.
Exploit: Ransomware
Geographic Solutions Inc.: Software Company
Risk to Business: 1.427 = Extreme
A ransomware attack on a major provider of software to state government agencies around the U.S. has resulted in website outages that impacted government services. Geographic Solutions provides workforce development, labor market information, and unemployment insurance software solutions to 35 U.S. states including Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, California and Indiana. Labor department job search and unemployment program website outages left citizens and government officials scrambling. The company has engaged a third-party firm to help with the cleanup and most services have been restored.
How It Could Affect Your Business: A data security incident at a service provider can be a disaster for any business and it will be especially damaging for the healthcare clients involved here.
California Department of Justice
Exploit: Human Error
California Department of Justice: State Government Agency
Risk to Business: 2.617 = Moderate
The California Department of Justice has disclosed a messy data breach courtesy of its Firearms Dashboard Portal. In the course of an update in late June, user data for anyone who had applied for a concealed carry firearms permit from 2011 through 2021 using the site was exposed for an estimated 24 hours in an unsecured spreadsheet. Data was also exposed on several other state-maintained gun-related online dashboards, including the Assault Weapon Registry, Handguns Certified for Sale, Dealer Record of Sale, Firearm Safety Certificate and Gun Violence Restraining Order dashboards.
Individual Risk: 2.613 = Moderate
User data that may have been exposed includes names, dates of birth, gender, race, driver license numbers, addresses, and criminal histories. Social Security numbers and financial information were not involved.
How It Could Affect Your Business SMBs that handle or store large amounts of data have been high on cybercriminal shopping lists, particularly in recent months.
Napa Valley Community College
Exploit: Ransomware
Napa Valley Community College: Institution for Higher Learning
Risk to Business: 1.601 = Severe
Napa Valley College has experienced a ransomware attack that resulted in its website and network systems being knocked offline. The incident, which started over two weeks ago, knocked systems including the college’s on-campus telephones and employee email accounts out, leaving social media and an athletic department website run on a separate network as the only communication channels for the college. Professors and staff have since had email restored. The college also announced that it will continue teaching summer-session classes both in-person and remotely using an online platform that includes email and communication with professors. The incident is under investigation.
Individual Impact: No information about consumer/employee PII, PHI or financial data exposure was available at press time.
How It Could Affect Your Business: The education sector has been hammered by cyberattacks for the last few years impacting schools at every level.
OpenSea
Exploit: Insider Threat
OpenSea: Non-Fungible Token Marketplace
Risk to Business: 1.903 = Severe
NFT giant OpenSea has had a data breach caused by an employee at a third-party service provider misusing their access to data. OpenSea announced last week that an employee of email vendor Customer.io, misused their employee access to download and share email addresses of OpenSea’s users and newsletter subscribers with an unauthorized external party. Customer.io told TechCrunch that the culprit was likely an employee who abused their role-specific access privileges and that no other company’s data was involved in this incident.
Individual Impact: No information about consumer/employee PII, PHI or financial data exposure was available at press time.
How it Could Affect Your Business: Finance sector organizations have been at the top of the cybercriminal hit list, especially crypto-related entities.
New Peoples Bank
Exploit: Hacking
New Peoples Bank: Financial Institution
Risk to Business: 2.304 = Severe
New Peoples Bank, a bank with branches in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee, has announced that it has experienced a data breach. An unauthorized person accessed bank systems on June 9, leading to data exposure for customers as well as disrupting banking and financial services. The bank is providing one year of free credit monitoring for impacted clients. Services have since been restored.
Individual Impact: 2.383 = Severe
New Peoples Bank, a bank with branches in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee, has announced that it has experienced a data breach. An unauthorized person accessed bank systems on June 9, leading to data exposure for customers as well as disrupting banking and financial services. The bank is providing one year of free credit monitoring for impacted clients. Services have since been restored.
Individual Impact: No information about consumer/employee PII, PHI or financial data exposure was available at press time.
How it Could Affect Your Business Banks of every size are a likely target of ransomware attacks and need to take extra security precautions.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Exploit: Hacking
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): Semiconductor Company
Risk to Business: 2.822 = Moderate
Chipmaker AMD is investigating a security breach after cybercrime gang RansomHouse, published a claim that they have obtained the company’s data. claims to have breached AMD on January 5 to steal 450GB of data. The group claims to be targeting companies with weak security, boasting that it was able to compromise AMD due to the organization’s weak passwords. In addition to the passwords, RansomHouse claims to have snatched network files and system information from AMD as well.
Individual Impact: No information about consumer/employee PII, PHI or financial data exposure was available at press time.
How it Could Affect Your Business Manufacturers aren’t safe from cybercriminals looking to snatch information about operational technology.
United Kingdom – Macmillan Publishing
Exploit: Ransomware
Macmillan Publishing: Media Company
Risk to Business: 2.206 = Severe
Major publisher Macmillan has experienced a ransomware attack that impacted its offices and warehouses in the U.S. and U.K.. The late June incident caused the company to shut down all of its IT systems. The company said in a statement that “certain files on its network” had been encrypted. Macmillan employees were briefly unable to access email and sales representatives shared that there may be publishing delays as a result of the attack.
Individual Impact: No information about consumer/employee PII, PHI or financial data exposure was available at press time.
How it Could Affect Your Business Companies that handle time-sensitive business are prime targets for cybercriminals looking for a quick payoff.
United Kingdom – Apetito
Exploit: Hacking
Apetito: Meal Delivery Service
Risk to Business: 1.922 = Severe
UK meal delivery company Apetito has announced that meal service to thousands of people in western England was disrupted for several days due to a cyberattack. Apetito delivers ready-to-eat meals to hospitals, elder care facilities, schools, childcare facilities and the homes of vulnerable people. The attack also impacted Apetito’s subsidiary Wiltshire Farm Foods, which delivers frozen heat-and-eat meals. Service was expected to be restored around July 4.
Individual Impact: No information about consumer/employee PII, PHI or financial data exposure was available at press time.
How it Could Affect Your Business Service providers have been popular targets for cybercriminals hunting for data to sell.
Austria – The Medical University of Innsbruck
Exploit: Ransomware
The Medical University of Innsbruck: Institution of Higher Learning
Risk to Business: 1.922 = Severe
The ransomware group Vice Society has claimed responsibility for a ransomware attack against the Medical University of Innsbruck. That attack took place last week, causing major disruptions and resulting in data exposure. A report in Bleeping Computer noted that the attack forced the university’s IT team to reset all 3,400 student and 2,200 employee account passwords in an arduous process that required everyone to personally collect their new credentials manually. Operations have since been restored. Vice Society has posted a sample of the stolen documents on its website.
Individual Impact: No information about consumer/employee PII, PHI or financial data exposure was available at press time.
How it Could Affect Your Business Universities are major targets for cyberattacks thanks to the amount of data they store and the need to maintain constant uptime.
1 – 1.5 = Extreme Risk
1.51 – 2.49 = Severe Risk
2.5 – 3 = Moderate Risk
Risk scores for The Week in Breach are calculated using a formula that considers a range of factors for each incident