Bitglass Security Spotlight: Data Breach Disclosed After the San Francisco International Airport is Targeted

Here are the top stories of recent weeks:

• San Francisco International Airport Affected by Data Breach
• Foreign-Exchange Company Pays Multimillion Dollar Ransom to Hackers
• Cyber Attacks on the Upsurge for Healthcare Facilities in the Midst of the Pandemic 
• Teleconference Leader Creates Council to Address Security Concerns
• Payment Provider Exposes Years of Government Transactions

San Francisco International Airport Affected by Data Breach

In March 2020, the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) disclosed that two of its websites were breached. According to the official memo, the hackers may have gained access to the login credentials of users registered on the two breached sites. This airport is located in the heart of Silicon Valley; it is the Bay Area’s largest airport and it currently offers flights throughout North America with non-stop connections to 86 cities in the U.S. on 12 domestic airlines. Having said that, the airport forced a reset of all SFO related email and network passwords but it is unclear what sensitive information was compromised. 

Foreign-Exchange Company Pays Multimillion Dollar Ransom to Hackers

Travelex, a foreign-exchange company based in the U.K. experienced a ransomware attack that resulted in $2.3 million paid in bitcoin, in order to get its systems back online after they were encrypted. The malicious actors behind the Sodinokibi ransomware were able to encrypt the company’s entire network, delete backup files and copy more than 5GB of sensitive data. This timely attack came just three months before the exchange unraveled in an accounting and governance scandal. 

Cyber Attacks on the Upsurge for Healthcare Facilities in the Midst of the Pandemic 

Hospitals are currently experiencing an increase in cyberattacks despite the fact that we are in a global pandemic. Threat actors are looking to maximize profits as the United States gears up for the peak of coronavirus cases throughout the nation. An inter-governmental law enforcement organization, INTERPOL, asserts that there has been a significant increase in cyberattacks throughout the globe. These attacks are directly impacting healthcare facilities and the medical professionals responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and can directly lead to deaths. 

Videoconference Leader Creates Council to Address Security Concerns

Zoom has served as a lifeline across many industries as organizations adapt to the remote working environment that the current global event has caused. The COVID-19 crisis is increasing the frequency in which people use the video conference service. As such, it’s important that organizations are aware of the implications to their security. Zoom’s CEO, Eric S. Yuan, recently announced that the company has formed a CISO council and an advisory board to share ideas on how to address the videoconferencing platform’s current security and privacy issues.

Payment Provider Exposes Years of Government Transactions 

Court fines and utility bill payments from residents across Arkansas and Oklahoma mistakenly left exposed on a payments processors website. The third party, which was used by local governments, exposed three years of transactions in its cache of data. The directory was left exposed for at least five months and within that time it was posted on a widely known hacking forum. Since then, the data has reportedly been moved offline, however, it is unsure how many malicious users got their hands on it prior to the removal.