Tag Archive for: public

DDoS attack was cause behind internet connectivity outage for public healthcare institutions in Singapore, ETCIO SEA

/in


Investigations on the internet connectivity disruption for public healthcare institutions which happened on 1 November 2023 showed that the outage was caused by a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, where the attackers flood servers with internet traffic to prevent legitimate users from accessing online services. As per national healthtech agency Synapxe, which is responsible for the IT operations that support the country’s public healthcare network, no evidence has been found to indicate that public healthcare data and internal networks have been compromised.

Internet connectivity at public healthcare institutions was disrupted between 9.20am and 4.30pm on 1 November 2023, with most of the affected services restored by 5.15pm. During the disruption, services requiring internet connectivity at public healthcare institutions, including websites, emails, productivity tools for staff, were inaccessible.

Throughout the incident, Synapxe was able to sustain the mission critical systems needed for clinical services and operations at the public healthcare institutions, including access to patient records. Patient data and the internal networks remained accessible and unaffected. Patient care was not compromised.

Synapxe’s networks are protected in a layered defence designed to detect and respond to cyber threats, including DDoS attacks. Its systems are also designed with redundancies for resilience, and these include system backups. To minimise the risks of being overwhelmed by higher-than-usual internet traffic, Synapxe subscribes to services which block abnormal surges in internet traffic before they enter our public healthcare network. In addition, once the traffic is cleared by the blocking service, firewalls are in place to allow only legitimate traffic into the network.

On 1 November 2023, an abnormal surge in network traffic was detected at 9.15am. This surge circumvented the blocking service, and overwhelmed Synapxe’s firewall behind the blocks. This triggered the firewall to filter out the traffic, and all the websites and internet-reliant services became inaccessible. Once the cause was identified, Synapxe…

Source…

‘It’s a pretty big issue for the city’: Ransomware attack responsible for Toronto Public Library outage

/in



Library branches remain open as scheduled but its website, public computers, printing services, digital collections and MAP passes are still unavailable.

Source…

SolarWinds Misled Public on Risks Before Hack, SEC Claims (1)

/in


The Securities and Exchange Commission-bsp-bb-link> alleged on Monday that SolarWinds Corp.-bsp-bb-link> defrauded investors by downplaying security risks ahead of a hack of its software that rippled through computer systems across the US government and corporate America.

The SEC also accused the top information security official at SolarWinds, Tim Brown, of breaking securities rules in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan. The action is the first time the regulator has sued a computer security executive for a cybersecurity-related issue.

The SolarWinds hack was among the worst cyber breaches in history, affecting hundreds of public companies and numerous government agencies. …

Source…

Survey: Every sixth American avoids using the internet in public

/in


Shopping malls and public event venues are considered to have the most cyber threats

Almost 16% of American internet users avoid going online in public places and nearly 70% of Americans prefer their mobile internet for online activities in public, according to a survey conducted by NordVPN. Cybersecurity experts say that these measures help to mitigate cyberthreats, but issues raised by using public Wi-Fi can also be managed by other means.

Cyberthreat of shopping malls

In the new survey, most American internet users mentioned shopping malls (51%), public event venues (50%), and cafeterias, bars, or restaurants (49%) among the places where devices are exposed to cybersecurity threats the most. Home and workplace are mentioned as the safest places from cybersecurity threats with only 20% of respondents concerned about internet security and privacy in each location.

“Internet users should evaluate cybersecurity risks in every location because the scope of threats varies depending on a place. While universities or offices tend to put more effort into cybersecurity, it might not be the case with cafeterias and shopping malls,” says Marijus Briedis, CTO at NordVPN.

Americans trust in themselves more than in technology

The survey reveals that Americans tend to rely more on their behavior online to protect themselves from cybersecurity threats in public places rather than technology. 45% of respondents claim that they avoid entering or accessing sensitive information when they are connected to public Wi-Fi. At the same time, 42% of respondents go only to safe websites, and 35% verify if the public Wi-Fi is legitimate before joining.

Regarding the usage of cybersecurity and privacy tools, the numbers are more modest. Only 27% of Americans use a VPN service, and 33% choose antivirus software. While a VPN is a more popular solution among younger generations, older generations tend to trust antivirus software.

“Cybersecurity literacy is important, and it is great that internet users avoid entering or accessing sensitive information, like banking accounts, clicking on pop-ups, or going to suspicious websites. But a human mistake is an important factor in cybersecurity and even experts do…

Source…