Tag Archive for: carolina

South Carolina: Ransomware attack Spartanburg County


A ransomware attack has been reported in Spartanburg County. WYFF News 4 reached out to Spartanburg County officials and the South Carolina Judicial Branch after hearing about a possible computer issue. Spartanburg County’s Twitter account posted the following Thursday afternoon: “Heads up, Spartanburg County: We are currently experiencing some computer system issues. Some of our phone numbers have been temporarily impacted. We will provide alternative phone numbers as soon as possible and will share other updates here as they become available. We thank you for your patience as we work to get these issues resolved.”They also provided a list of alternate phone numbers for different departments the public may need. The county communication manager released more information in a statement to WYFF 4: “We recently detected and responded to a ransomware attack on our computer network. As soon as we learned this, we began working to investigate, to restore operations, and determine the effects of the incident. We are also working with nationally recognized third-party cybersecurity consultants. We continue to actively monitor the situation and are coordinating with law enforcement. The safety and security of our county residents and our employees remain our top priority. The County’s IT Department and our cybersecurity and forensic team continue working to test and recover impacted systems. All essential services continue to operate, including 9-1-1 operations and emergency communications.” The South Carolina Judicial Branch gave WYFF 4 the following statement: “The South Carolina Judicial Branch is aware of a ransomware attack in Spartanburg County. Due to our security protocols and safeguards, we do not anticipate any impact on the Judicial Branch systems.”

A ransomware attack has been reported in Spartanburg County.

WYFF News 4 reached out to Spartanburg County officials and the South Carolina Judicial Branch after hearing about a possible computer issue.

Spartanburg County’s Twitter account posted the following Thursday afternoon:

“Heads up, Spartanburg County: We are currently experiencing some computer system issues. Some…

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New Carolina center to craft public policy for a better internet


How can internet users speak freely online while also being protected from harmful content? How can real security threats from foreign technology products be addressed without depriving people of apps they use daily? How can technology better protect minors, while still giving them access to innovative, private online experiences? These are the questions that now dominate conversations surrounding technology.

A new center at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill aims to answer them.

The Center on Technology Policy, housed in the UNC School of Information and Library Science, launched on April 21 and aims to offer public policy solutions that can inform lawmakers in developing tech policy. As a result, emerging technologies can be regulated to minimize user risks and maximize benefits.

“Our goal is for the Center on Technology Policy to offer an affirmative vision for public policy that will improve our tech products and online content,” Matt Perault, CTP’s director and professor of the practice at SILS, said. To achieve this, CTP plans to release policy briefs, podcasts, research papers and other materials to guide tech policy development and provide resources to the public on informed internet technology use.

One such resource has already been published. Perault and J. Scott Babwah Brennen, who serves as head of online expression at CTP, co-authored a guide for state lawmakers on how they can regulate online content. The guide was released in tandem with the center’s launch.

“The guide offers state lawmakers practical and legal options for better regulating online content,” Babwah Brennan said. “As a result, states have an opportunity to address the root causes of hate speech, harassment, misinformation, illegal content and problematic content moderation while strengthening the institutions and infrastructures required to build healthy communication systems.”

Developing the future of tech policy professionals

Using a practitioner-oriented approach to technology policy, CTP hopes to connect Carolina students with educational and professional opportunities in the field. The end goal? To develop the next generation of technology policy professionals, developers,…

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Ransomware group posts stolen North Carolina county health data online 


Ransomware group DoppelPaymer has published online two batches of protected health and personally identifiable information belonging to residents of Chatham County, N.C., according to a Feb. 9 Chatham News + Record report. 

DoppelPaymer stole the sensitive data files during an Oct. 28 cyberattack on the county’s government systems. The hackers posted at least two batches of Chatham County’s data on both the dark web and light web, which makes the information accessible via key search criteria, according to the report. 

The first data upload was made Nov. 4 and contained “mostly innocuous” files, Chatham County Manager Dan LaMontagne told the publication. A second data upload in late January, however, contained more sensitive data, which has been viewed more than 30,000 times, according to the ransomware site. 

The county plans to release a summary report of the incident at its board of commissioners meeting next week as well as to the public and is working to address the issue of the public posting of the files. 

“Chatham County staff has been engaged with staff from the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services and the N.C. Attorney General’s Office to ensure we meet the reporting requirements as it relates to protected health information and/or personally identifiable information data,” Mr. LaMontagne said. “We will continue to engage in these conversations with our cyber insurance attorney(s), DHHS, and the AG to ensure we respond in the most appropriate manner possible as it relates to the data accessed from our network during the event.”  

Data files exposed by the incident include medical evaluations of children from neglect cases, personnel records of some employees and documents related to ongoing investigations with the Chatham County Sheriff’s office. 

More articles on cybersecurity: 
Hacker tries to poison Florida city’s water system: 5 details 
Hackers hit Nebraska Medical Center, U of Nebraska with malware, steal patient and employee records
Security breach may have exposed 36,000 UPMC patients’ info


© Copyright ASC COMMUNICATIONS 2021. Interested in LINKING to or…

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South Carolina Supreme Court Says Cops Aren’t Getting Any No-Knock Warrants Anytime Soon

Earlier this year, Louisville (KY) police officers killed an unarmed woman during a no-knock drug raid. Breonna Taylor was killed after her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, opened fire on SWAT officers Walker believed were criminals entering their home. The officers claimed they had announced their presence before entering. A 911 call placed by Walker — a licensed gun owner — indicated no warning had been given.

“I don’t know what happened … somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend…”

This completely preventable tragedy again prompted discussions of no-knock warrants and their use by law enforcement. This latest killing continued the long narrative of violent actions by drug task forces, who supposedly avail themselves of no-knock raids to increase the safety of officers and occupants. But all no-knock raids seem to do is increase the chance officers will provoke a violent reaction they can use to justify the killing of anyone on the premises. The raid that killed Breonna Taylor was a complete failure. The suspect being sought wasn’t in the house and no drugs were found.

A few small reform efforts targeting the use of no-knock warrants have been made. The Houston Police Department had no choice but to rewrite its rules after a no-knock raid ended with two citizens dead, five officers wounded, and two of those officers hit with multiple criminal charges.

A judge in South Carolina has taken it upon himself to step up and address the huge problem local law enforcement apparently isn’t quite ready to confront.

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty late Friday afternoon ordered state judges and magistrates to stop issuing “no-knock” search warrants to police.

[…]

Beatty’s order said that the majority of state search warrants in South Carolina are issued by magistrates, the lowest rank of judicial authority. But a recent survey, Beatty wrote, revealed that “most (magistrates) do not understand the gravity of no-knock warrants and do not discern the heightened requirements for issuing a no-knock warrant.”

It’s not a ban. It’s a moratorium. But it should decrease the chances someone in South Carolina will be needlessly killed by overzealous drug warriors. The short order issued by Judge Beatty says no no-knocks warrants will be approved until there are some clear ground rules in place.

IT IS ORDERED that a moratorium upon the issuance of no-knock warrants by all circuit and summary court judges of this state take effect immediately and remain in effect until instruction is provided to circuit and summary court judges statewide as to the criteria to be used to determine whether a requested no-knock warrant should be issued. This instruction will be provided by the South Carolina Judicial Branch.

It also points out that judges have been handling these requests carelessly. And this carelessness is killing people.

It further appears that no-knock search warrants are routinely issued upon request without further inquiry. In recognition of the dangers that the execution of no-knock warrants present to law enforcement and members of the public, and in order to ensure that these warrants are issued based upon the proper constitutional and statutory criteria,

I FIND it necessary to address the issuance of no-knock search warrants by circuit and summary court judges statewide.

It has been addressed. No-knocks are no-go in South Carolina until further notice. Cops will just have to do warrant service the old fashioned way — one that appears to be far less dangerous than the supposedly “safer” option.

Techdirt.