Tag Archive for: Louis

Hacker Claims to Have Published St. Louis Transit Data

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(TNS) — An anonymous hacker group says it has published data it stole from a regional transportation agency here.

It was not immediately clear what data was published or whether it included sensitive personal information. The hackers earlier this week demanded a ransom be paid or they would release stolen information from the regional transportation system Metro Transit, including passports, Social Security numbers and tax information.

Taulby Roach, the CEO and president of Bi-State Development, which operates Metro Transit, said Thursday the agency did not pay the ransom but did not release more details about the demand.


A union that represents many of Metro Transit’s 1,800 employees said no employees have reported instances of identity theft or other malicious activity stemming from the hack.

Roach said no customer data was stolen, and any impacted employees will be notified.

Employees were told of the data breach earlier this week and offered free credit monitoring through TransUnion, a credit reporting agency.

“We are unaware of any instances where sensitive employee information has been used maliciously,” Roach said in a statement. “However, we encouraged employees to register as soon as possible for the free credit monitoring services and heightened vigilance by our employees for suspicious links or suspicious credit activity.

Brett Callow, an analyst with the New Zealand-based cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, shared a screenshot with the Post-Dispatch that showed files containing what the hackers claimed late Wednesday was stolen Metro data.

Callow said it’s impossible to know exactly what’s in the files without downloading and viewing them, which he said he wouldn’t do because he sees it as an invasion of privacy.

The screenshot was published on an unregulated part of the Internet called the dark web, which hackers often use to publish ransom threats and cybersecurity researchers track to study ransomware activity.

It appeared to show the publication of 10 files, each 500 megabytes, and a tracker noting the download link had been viewed more than 700 times.

The cyber attack began on Oct. 2, and phone and computer…

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Hackers say they’ve published data stolen from St. Louis’ Metro Transit

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ST. LOUIS — An anonymous hacker group says it has published data it stole from a regional transportation agency here.

It was not immediately clear what data was published or whether it included sensitive personal information. The hackers earlier this week demanded a ransom be paid or they would release stolen information from the regional transportation system Metro Transit, including passports, Social Security numbers and tax information.

Taulby Roach, the CEO and president of Bi-State Development, which operates Metro Transit, said Thursday the agency did not pay the ransom but did not release more details about the demand.

A union that represents many of Metro Transit’s 1,800 employees said no employees have reported instances of identity theft or other malicious activity stemming from the hack.

Roach said no customer data was stolen, and any impacted employees will be notified.

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Employees were told of the data breach earlier this week and offered free credit monitoring through TransUnion, a credit reporting agency.

“We are unaware of any instances where sensitive employee information has been used maliciously,” Roach said in a statement. “However, we encouraged employees to register as soon as possible for the free credit monitoring services and heightened vigilance by our employees for suspicious links or suspicious credit activity.

Brett Callow, an analyst with the New Zealand-based cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, shared a screenshot with the Post-Dispatch that showed files containing what the hackers claimed late Wednesday was stolen Metro data.

Callow said it’s impossible to know exactly what’s in the files without downloading and viewing them, which he said he wouldn’t do because he sees it as an invasion of privacy.

The screenshot was published on an unregulated part of the internet called the dark web, which hackers often use to publish ransom threats and…

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St. Louis County to boost cybersecurity after hack

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CLAYTON — The St. Louis County Council approved an emergency measure Tuesday to spend $5 million to improve the county’s cybersecurity after hackers temporarily shut down law enforcement systems last month.

The money will be used to find and fix weaknesses in the county’s systems, purchase new technology and hire consultants to transfer the information technology capabilities from servers to the cloud, among other improvements, said Councilman Ernie Trakas.

The spending will drain the county’s emergency savings, but it’s worth the expense, Trakas said at the council’s regular meeting Tuesday night. The money can be used for “unforeseen emergencies,” according to state law. But what qualifies as an emergency is broad and can be defined by the County Council.

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“What greater emergency do we have right now than a vulnerable IT system?” Trakas said.

The council approved it unanimously.

The attack in mid-September targeted a computer system used to look up court cases, issue charges and process people in custody at the jail.

Police officers, jail officials, the county counselor, municipal court officials and the prosecuting attorney’s office all use the Regional Justice Information System, or REJIS.

Fox News recently offered readers a guide to internet security and different forms of cyberattacks. Malware is an often-used abbreviation for malicious software, or software developed with malicious intent.


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Chase Bank, Walmart, T-Mobile, Home Depot, Louis Vuitton, and MORE — Top Scams and Phishing Schemes of the Week

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This week we’ve found a large number of scams that you need to watch out for, including ones relating to Chase Bank, Walmart, T-Mobile, Home Depot, and Louis Vuitton. Would you have been able to spot all the scams?

Phishing Scams

Phishing is one of the most commonly used tactics by scammers. Conventionally, while impersonating famous brands, they send out fake text messages and emails containing phishing links and try to entice you into opening them with various lies.

In such phishing schemes, the links lead you to fake log-in pages that appear to belong to various brands. These pages require you to submit log-in credentials to download a software update, change account settings, or whatever other tasks the scammers have asked you to complete. Here are some examples:

Chase Bank

Did you receive a text message from Chase Bank that says your account is blocked due to “suspicious sign-in attempts”? Don’t click on the link!

Scammers pose as Chase and send you such fake alerts, prompting you to click on the embedded links to verify your Chase account. Below are some other fake Chase text messages we’ve detected:

  • CHASE BANK[ALERT]: Dear customer, we have BLOCKED a fraudulent charge attempt on your DEBIT CARD. your DEBIT CARD has now been temporarily suspended kindly go to link to verify and re-activate {URL}
  • CHASE-ALERT: For Your Account Safety We Restricted Your Debit/ATM Card Due To Unusual Activity, To Restore Follow {URL}

The phishing links will take you to a fake Chase log-in page. All the credentials you submit here will end up in the scammers’ hands — they can thus hack into your Chase account. Don’t let them!

Spot the Scam_Chase_Fake Page_20220513

Trend Micro Check is a browser extension and mobile app for detecting scams, phishing attacks, malware, and dangerous links — and it’s FREE!

After you’ve pinned the Trend Micro Check extension, it will block dangerous sites automatically! (Available on Safari, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge).

TMC_CTA_Extension_2022

You can also download the Trend Micro Check mobile app for 24/7 automatic scam and spam detection and filtering. (Available for Android…

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