Tag Archive for: Hawaii

Hawaii Community College pays ransomware group 

/in


Hawaii Community College last week paid an undisclosed sum to a ransomware group that stole the personal information of approximately 28,000 people and threatened to post it online.

The college posted a statement on its website July 26 that it had “made the difficult decision to negotiate with the threat actors in order to protect the individuals whose sensitive information might have been compromised.” 

The ransomware group NoEscape claimed responsibility for the attack, threatening to publish 65 gigabytes of stolen data from the institution on June 19. The college said the group has a “documented history of publicly posting the stolen personal information of individuals when agreement with the impacted entity was not reached.”

The college said it worked with an external team of cybersecurity experts until it had “reached an agreement with the threat actors to destroy all of the information it illegally obtained.” The college did not disclose how much it paid NoEscape, which is believed to be a successor to the Avaddon ransomware group. Avaddon previously requested as much as $10 million from its victims.

The college said it’s sending letters to those affected with offers of credit monitoring and identity theft protection. The college recommended those impacted freeze their credit, review their account statements carefully and implement multi-factor authentication on their devices. 

The college said it will continue to restore its IT infrastructure, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 14.

Source…

Ransomware attack strikes Hawaii Community College

/in


Jun. 21—Hawaii Community College has been struck with a ransomware attack, and security measures are being increased to protect digital assets, University of Hawaii officials said Tuesday.

“Hawaii CC representatives are actively working with federal authorities and cybersecurity experts,” a university statement said.

“The Hawaii CC campus was notified of a cybersecurity incident on Tuesday, June 13, shortly after UH was made aware of the situa­tion,” the statement continued. “UH System Information Technology Serv­ices responded immediately and took the Hawaii CC network offline and took additional steps to protect all UH networks. Hawaii CC is the only UH campus identified in the attack by the group claiming responsibility.”

Cybersecurity experts at UH do not think any of the other nine UH campuses have been affected.

When asked which ransomware group or platform was responsible, what kinds of data may have been compromised and what steps students and university employees should take, UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said those issues are part of the ongoing investigation and cannot be discussed. But he confirmed that the university “has increased scanning and monitoring and is deploying additional security technologies.”

The bad actor is “holding numerous companies and agencies ransom. Not just Hawaii CC,” Meisenzahl added. “This is happening to hundreds of agencies, hospitals, businesses around the county for the last few years now. It was always a matter of when and not if it would happen.”

Source…

Mitre expands R&D in Hawaii as US focus on Indo-Pacific intensifies

/in


WASHINGTON — Mitre, which operates federally funded centers that assist the U.S. government with science research, development and systems engineering, said it will open a facility in in Hawaii to bolster security and national defense operations in the Indo-Pacific.

This site in Honolulu will support Hawaii and Indo-Pacific priorities of the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the intelligence community and international allies, while fostering “whole-of-nation” technology collaborations in cybersecurity, transportation, healthcare, veterans services and law enforcement, the not-for-profit said.

The U.S. sees the Pacific as a key strategic region, as Washington works to counter China’s growing influence. The White House Indo-Pacific Strategy, published in February, pledges an extended role in the area, including establishing more resilient command and control and increasing the scope of joint exercises and operations.

“We’re immersed in nearly every aspect of global strategic competition—from countering aggressive military actions by adversary nations, to safeguarding supply chains, accelerating maritime research and innovation, and preparing for the next global health crisis,” said Keoki Jackson, senior vice president, general manager, Mitre National Security, in a statement.

Mitre, which works across six federal R&D centers and more than 200 individual labs, also said it entered into a partnership with UH to identify opportunities for collaborative analysis, engineering and research. The partnership will focus on advancing marine technology, enhancing cyber defense, strengthening climate resilience, addressing natural resource management and testing energy technologies.

The organization has been operating at Ford Island and Camp Smith in Hawaii for almost 50 years. Developing the site at the Kaka’ako Innovation District will double its local workforce, advance STEM education and bolster security in the region, it said.

Last month, Mitre named Cedric Sims to the new role of senior vice president, enterprise innovation and integration, and Austin Y. Wang as vice president, intelligence center, Mitre National Security.

Sims will develop strategies to…

Source…

Potential data breach exposed in state’s travel exemption request system – Hawaii News Now

/in

Potential data breach exposed in state’s travel exemption request system  Hawaii News Now
“data breach” – read more