Tag Archive for: property

ID, bank details, contact information at risk as cyber criminals hack PH Property Bendigo real estate agency

/in


A regional Victorian real estate agency has fallen victim to a data breach.

PH Property Bendigo sent an email to clients yesterday afternoon saying a staff member’s email address was hacked on March 15.

The hackers managed to get past security protocols by the company that include randomised passwords, 2-Factor Authentication for all email accounts, and an in-house internet firewall security system.

The company said four months of data was stolen which could affect about 200 customers. 

Source…

Dallas property appraisal website back from ransomware attack

/in


DALLAS — It is back from the dead! The website of DCAD—the Dallas Central Appraisal District—is almost fully recovered from a devastating ransomware attack last November that shut down the functionality of the appraisal district’s computer systems.

Officials there suspect an overseas outfit called Royal Ransomware is responsible. They say the FBI is investigating.

That suspected cybercriminal group is the same one that reportedly attacked the appraisal district in Austin a few months ago. Separately, the appraisal district in San Antonio was also reportedly hit with ransomware last year.

This is a big problem. In fact, they’re planning a special panel discussion about lessons learned from all of this when the Texas Association of Appraisal Districts convenes its annual meeting in Dallas later this month. DCAD has quite a story to share.

Recovering from ransomware cost the Dallas property appraisal district a lot

Leaders at the Dallas appraisal offices think the hackers got in through an email that an employee clicked on months ago. They suspect the bad actors were in the DCAD system undetected for some time before they struck on election day last November, freezing the DCAD computer systems.

They say the bad actors threatened to make the records public, but that wasn’t a great concern, since most records are publicly accessible anyway. Whoever took the data hostage then locked the files and demanded $1 million. DCAD balked at that figure, but through an intermediary, eventually paid a ransom of $170,000 in cryptocurrency. 

After that, the cyber crooks gave DCAD a digital key to unlock the system. But it only partially worked. So, information technology experts have been rebuilding the servers.

The appraisal district just hired outside companies to monitor their system 24/7 for anything suspicious. They have also hired a firm to help back up all their files offsite in case this ever happens again. Before, those records were not backed up elsewhere.

In total, DCAD estimates this has cost them somewhere under a half million dollars. They tell us it was paid out of their emergency fund, and that this is the first time in 40 years they’ve had to dip into that account.

The appraisal…

Source…

COMTek Tags Samsung Over Data-Dump Security Solutions – Intellectual Property

/in



United States:

COMTek Tags Samsung Over Data-Dump Security Solutions

31 January 2022


RPX Corporation


To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com.


Communication Technologies, Inc. (d/b/a COMTek) has filed a
second complaint over a single patent broadly directed to a script
for automating the removal of information from a computing system.
This one, filed in the Eastern District of Texas against
Samsung (
2:21-cv-00444), targets features for erasing all data after a
determined set of unsuccessful attempts to enter a passcode, within
certain Samsung devices (i.e., Galaxy-series phones and
tablets, as well as Tizen-series products) that support its Knox
mobile security solution and/or Knox Tizen Wearable operating
system (Wear OS). Litigation against the first defendant in this
campaign, Citrix Systems, was dismissed with
prejudice from the District of Massachusetts after roughly five
uneventful months.

The asserted patent (
6,725,444) issued in April 2004 with an estimated priority date
in December 2000. Joseph E. Fergus is the patent’s sole named
inventor; Fergus assigned the asset, during prosecution, to COMTek,
which appears to have provided IT services from its formation, by
Fergus, in Virginia in 1990 through early 2019. In late 2020, the
company’s website bore a 2009 copyright, archived press
releases through 2010, and noted government contracts, the most
recent of which appeared to have lapsed in April 2019. (COMTek
appears to have other government contracts with end dates that have
yet to pass.) The message…

Source…

GBT GRANTED Patents (IP – Intellectual Property) Update

/in


GBT’s IP includes additional innovative pending patents, and the company intends to file more during 2022

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GBT Technologies Inc. ( OTC PINK: GTCHD ) (“GBT” or the “Company”), disclosed about its filing of patents with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). In order to assist its followers, GBT released partial IP’s update, which under one release encompass all five patents granted. The company’s IP include more innovative pending patents, and intends to file more technological advancements patents during 2022.

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL INTEGRATED CIRCUITS AND MEMORY STRUCTURE FOR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS. Patent No. 10,854,763 United States Patent: 10854763 (uspto.gov) : A New paradigm in Integrated Circuits architecture and manufacturing, enabling the design of much more powerful ICs and larger capacity memories.

SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF MOBILE DATABASE MANAGEMENT AND SHARING. Patent No. 10,853,32 United States Patent: 10853327 (uspto.gov) : Innovative database management and sharing system, enabling robust cybersecurity, data processing and efficient storage.

ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS FOR SECURE COMMUNICATIONS AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS. Patent No. 10,521,614 United States Patent: 10521614 (uspto.gov) : A communication microchip for mobile technology, alleviates to a great extent the disadvantages of known electronic circuits and communications systems by establishing powerful private, secured network.

TRACKING DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS USING PATCH PACKAGES WITH EMBEDDED ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS. Patent No. 10,021,522 United States Patent: 10021522 (uspto.gov)atent: 10021522 (uspto.gov) : Advanced tracking technology based on innovative radio and antenna technologies. The system works with or without GPS services.

TRACKING DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS USING PATCH PACKAGES WITH EMBEDDED ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS. Patent No. 10,616,715 Global tracking via patch system United States Patent: 10616715 (uspto.gov) : A breakthrough tracking device in a form of a patch, made of a flexible material to be affixed to an object for tracking purposes anywhere on Earth. The system works with or without…

Source…