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Equifax Finds 2.4 Million More Victims of 2017 Breach
Last month, reports surfaced that more information than previously thought may have been exposed in Equifax’s massive data breach, and now, the company has confirmed it. Equifax said Thursday that 2.4 million more people than it previously believed were affected by its massive data breach last year, the second time it has revised up estimates of the number of Americans whose information was stolen.
In October of last year, Equifax revealed that forensics investigators had concluded that 2.5 million more US consumers were affected by the data breach it revealed in September, bringing the total number at that time to 145.5 million. This new revelation raises the number of victims in the US to 147.9 million people.
32% of companies sacrifice mobile security to improve business performance
A new report from Verizon found that organizations across multiple industries compromised mobile data security due to a lack of awareness about threats – or by placing a higher priority on getting products to market. The first annual Verizon Mobile Security Index 2018 seeks to raise awareness of the current mobile security landscape, and provide recommendations for protecting the mobile enterprise
More than 60 percent of respondents said a “lack of understanding of threats and solutions” was a barrier to mobile security, but nearly one-third “admitted to sacrificing mobile security to improve business performance.”
New Tax Fraud Scam Targeting Tax Professionals
With the emergence of a new tax fraud scheme, The Internal Revenue Service is urging tax professionals to step up security and beware of phishing emails that can secretly download malicious software that can help cybercriminals steal client data.
Only a few days into the filing season, a scam was identified that began with cybercriminals stealing data from several tax practitioners’ computers and filing fraudulent tax returns.
Tax refund fraud affects hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of U.S. citizens annually. Victims usually first learn of the crime after having their returns rejected because scammers beat them to it.
California Predicted to Lose $329M to Cybercrime in 2018
Cybercrime is expected to cost Californians big-time in 2018. Using publicly available data from the FBI and the Insurance Information Institute, researchers at Website Builder Expert have predicted individuals in the Golden State will lose $329 million over the course of this year.
Second place, New York, is expected to lose $139.4 million. Third place, Florida, is expected to lose $111.7 million to cybercriminals this year. These figures put California far ahead of all other states for cybercrime losses.
Ransomware attack on Sacramento Bee database exposes 19.5M California voter records
The Sacramento Bee deleted two databases hosted by a third party after a ransomware attack exposed the voter records of 19.5 million California voters and contact information for 53,000 current and former subscribers to the newspaper.
The paper refused to pay the hackers’ demand for a bitcoin ransom and is notifying subscribers whose information was affected, according to its publisher Gary Wortel, who also serves as west regional publisher at parent company McClatchy.
The Sacramento Bee said in a statement that a firewall protecting its database was not restored during routine maintenance last month, leaving the 19,501,258 voter files publicly accessible for two weeks. Additionally, the names, home addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of 52,873 Sacramento Bee subscribers, who activated their digital accounts prior to 2017, were compromised.
Global levels of fraud, cyber and security incidents reached all-time high in 2017
Businesses reported all-time high levels of fraud, cyber and security incidents during 2017, according to senior corporate executives surveyed worldwide for the 2017/18 Kroll Annual Global Fraud & Risk Report.
About 84% of companies surveyed worldwide experienced a fraud incident in 2017, according to the report.
The proportion of executives reporting that their companies fell victim to at least one instance of fraud over the past 12 months increased to 84%, from 82% in the previous year. Levels of reported fraud have steadily risen every year since 2012, when the reported occurrence was just 61%.
