Tag Archive for: Here’s

CoWIN data breach: Here’s what cyber-security experts have to say on CoWIN data breach

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A day after an alleged data breach on Co-WIN portal was reported, analysts say that the hackers do not have access to the entire CoWIN portal nor to the backend database.

The hacker was sharing personal information such as mobile numbers, and Aadhar numbers of those who have registered themselves on the CoWIN portal for their vaccinations.

CloudSEK, a cyber-security company, discovered a threat actor advertising a Telegram bot that offered personally identifiable information (PII) data of Indian citizens.”It is believed that the threat actors have obtained multiple credentials belonging to health workers, which they could have used to access the CoWIN portal and its associated data,” according to researchers.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Monday dubbed the alleged data breach of Covid-19 vaccine beneficiaries as “mischievous in nature”, saying that the CoWIN portal is completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy.

The Ministry also said that it has requested the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to look into this issue and submit a report, besides initiating an internal exercise to review the existing security measures of CoWIN. As per their statement, data could only be accessed only from OTP and thus, it is not possible to get personal details of the beneficiaries of the vaccinations.

CERT-In in its initial report has said that the ‘backend database for the Telegram bot was not directly accessing the APIs of the CoWIN database.’ In response to the data leak, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, said that it does not appear that the CoWIN app or database has been directly breached. On March 13, 2022, a threat actor on a Russian cybercrime forum advertised compromised access to the CoWIN portal, sharing a screenshot of the CoWIN database portal affecting the Tamil Nadu region.

“There are numerous healthcare worker credentials available on the Dark Web for the CoWIN portal, highlighting the need for better endpoint security measures for healthcare workers,” the team highlighted. They added that it might be through the credentials of the health workers which were compromised and would have been…

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Hacking Attempts in the Education Sector Are On the Rise. Here’s How Schools Can Stay Safe from Cyberattacks.

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Educational institutions are facing a surge in cyberattacks targeting IoT (Internet of Things) devices like IP cameras, network video recorders, and routers, according to recent data published by Check Point Research. In fact, the cybersecurity solutions provider states that there has been a 34% increase in cyberattacks when compared to last year. How can schools and other organizations stay safe from hacking attempts in the education sector?

Experts believe that schools and universities need to focus on vulnerability management. Basically, this process involves the continuous identification and resolution of potential weaknesses or flaws, such as bugs and firewall misconfigurations. These give hackers a chance to steal data and cause harm. Even something as simple as regularly updating software and installing antivirus solutions can help prevent unauthorized access to confidential data like the addresses and medical records of students.

BlueSteel Cybersecurity CEO Ali Allage, who has two decades of experience in leading tech companies, tells us how schools can stay safe from cyberattacks and institute better strategies against hacking attempts in the education sector.

 

Ali’s Thoughts

“So, my thoughts on the topic of the education sector seeing an increase in attacks is not surprising just because of how much the education system had to transition [during] and after covid on technology use. There’s been a lot of quick adoption without necessarily having the right frameworks in order to support remote education or adopting some of the technologies needed for today’s educational world. So, part of that is not having a grasp on vulnerability management, and this is using these tiny devices, like I mentioned [IoT devices] like cameras, [some] of these hardware pieces that sometimes get overlooked on firmware. Making sure that the software that goes to run the hardware are up to date. And, so we’ll see a lot in terms of vulnerability management not necessarily getting the love or attention it needs, or you’ll see that they’re identifying some of the issues — It’s just that the breadth of items that need to be addressed are pretty large and it could be…

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iOS 17 Is Coming. Here’s What iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches Are Missing.

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New devices are fun, but among Apple’s glitzy product launches, its software-focused June event is my favorite. We get a glimpse of the new features coming to existing iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices—at no additional charge!

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Dallas is still under a ransomware attack. Here’s what’s impacted

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Early last month, the city of Dallas was hit with a ransomware attack by the hacker group Royal, which impacted a number of its websites.

The city’s online services were down for several days following the May 3 cyberattack.

Dallas Chief Information Officer William Zielinski told a city council committee at the time that the attack affected systems throughout the city’s network.

Here’s what we know was impacted by the ransomware attack:

  • Dallas Police Department, Dallas Fire-Rescue, 911 and 311: The outages impacted DPD’s computer-assisted dispatch system, known as CAD. Dispatch call takers had to manually write down instructions for officers in the field and officers were only able to respond through their phones and radios. According to city spokesperson Catherine Cuellar, those systems were brought back online May 6 and emergency dispatch has stayed in operation since. 
  • Dallas Water Utilities: The attack knocked out the online payment system for Dallas Water Utilities, as well as meter-reading software. Those have since come back online. 
  • Dallas Municipal Court: The court was closed for the majority of the month after the cyberattack. There were no hearings, trials or jury duty during that time, and the city could not accept nearly any form of citation payments. Dallas residents were still able to mail important documents to the court, but wasn’t able to process them until the court reopened on Tuesday. All hearings that were scheduled since May 3 will be rescheduled and new court dates mailed out now that services are restored. 
  • Dallas Public Library: The library’s reservation system has not been brought back online yet. Staff are still manually tracking the availability of borrowed items. Residents can still check those items out, but are being advised not to return them until the system is fully functional again.

The city says it’s been working with federal and state law enforcement to investigate the ransomware attack.
Meanwhile, city spokesperson Catherine Cuellar says workarounds remain in place as officials continue to restore public safety and public-facing services.

“Serving our residents remains a top priority, and while we…

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