Mainers At Risk As Hackers Play Chess With Data

Ransomware

Yesterday at 4:00 AM was when the post was made. The blog section had a new article. The article was added to the website. It was written by an author. This post is now available to read.

Cybercrime is increasing and catching offenders is difficult, say experts. Every day, data breaches are happening in Maine.

Taco Bell was affected by a data breach. It might have affected 800 people in Maine. Personal information could be compromised. This was reported by the Associated Press.

Over 35,000 people in Maine lost their personal information to hackers. This happened recently. There have been many other similar incidents in the state.

A pharmacy company in Kentucky reported hackers stole sensitive information from 5.8 million people. The hackers took names, Social Security numbers, insurance information, and medication history. PharMerica Corp. sent a letter on May 12 explaining the situation. The company found out on March 14 that someone had illegally accessed their data. They are currently investigating the incident.

There's been another data breach in Maine, with potentially over 11,000 residents affected. The report came out the day after this news. Brightly Software, which is part of Siemens based in North Carolina, announced that hackers accessed a user database and took details of around 3 million people. The compromised data included names, phone numbers, and employer information.

Someone stole something on April 20. Brightly found out on April 28. The Office of the Maine Attorney General keeps a record of data breaches that affect people in Maine.

Around 20,000 people in Maine got notified about hackers. These hackers got access to their Social Security numbers, Medicare member numbers, and health plan subscriber numbers. The hackers got this information from NationsBenefits. NationsBenefits is a health insurance administrator based in Florida.

In April, NextGen Healthcare, located in California, had a data breach. Over 1 million people's electronic health records were exposed. This included 3,900 people from Maine.

Even unexpected targets can be affected by data disasters.

785 people in Maine who own Nissan cars were told in December that their data had been hacked. A ransomware attack and data breach in January affected nearly 800 people in Maine who work at Yum! Brands. Yum! Brands is the owner of fast food restaurants like KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.

Every day, there are more and more incidents happening. The attorney general's office says that in the last six months, over 300 data breaches happened to people in Maine. Last year, when the pandemic started, there were 218 breaches in the same six months.

Cybercrime is increasing and evolving, making it tougher to defend against according to security professionals.

The CEO of Dirigo Technology mentioned that everyone is in danger in today's technology-driven world.

He said that the hackers and bad players always come up with new ways to steal information. It's like a chess game between them and security people, that never ends.

Hacking quietly is possible. Hackers can attack in a way that is unnoticed. This method is called "under the radar" hacking. It's harder to detect for victims. Hackers use tactics like phishing or social engineering. They gain access to sensitive information. The consequences can be severe for individuals and companies. Protecting against under the radar hacking is important. Using strong passwords and being cautious online can help. Stay vigilant and aware of potential threats.

IBM's report on information security revealed that 83% of the businesses surveyed had undergone one data breach. This is difficult to measure, complicating the damage estimation.

People's personal information gets stolen, sold and used a lot. This makes it hard to figure out where the data is going and stop it from spreading.

Yum! Brands is facing a lawsuit. The plaintiff is Christie Stinson. She has received a lot of spam calls, texts and emails since the data breach on Jan. 13. Christie changed her phone number but she still receives spam.

She feels emotional because she doesn't know if someone will use her Social Security number. It could happen at any time.

There was a delay before consumers were told about a data breach. This may have made it more dangerous.

On April 7, Stinson was told that her data might have been stolen. She thinks the criminals may have already sold her private information. Stinson said if she knew about the security issue at Yum! Brands sooner, she could have tried to prevent more damage.

Cyberattacks have happened a lot in the past ten years. This makes us think about being careful with sharing info online. It's important for both businesses and people.

Dirigo Technology's CEO is named Nick Knowlton. He works in Lewiston. The photo is from Dirigo Technology.

In 2013, Target got hit with a data breach. It involved 40 million credit and debit card numbers. Three years later, Equifax suffered an attack. It exposed personal identifying information of 148 million people. Fast forward to 2021 and both Microsoft and Facebook got hacked. These are worldwide hacks.

There are many data breaches happening without people knowing about them. In Maine, they happen daily.

According to Knowlton, many small businesses are being attacked. These businesses are often easier targets because they don't have enough cybersecurity resources or employee training.

He claimed that cyber criminals are smart. People say no criminal is smart, but he thinks cyber criminals are an exception.

Cybercrime makes a lot of money. Cybercriminals earn between $45,000 to $2 million yearly. They make an illegal revenue of $1.5 trillion annually.

When you suffer a hack, it can cost you. Both individuals and firms can be affected. The expenses associated with being hacked are significant. Being hacked is a concern. After all, it results in financial costs. Hackers can cause problems for people and firms. The financial damage can be large. Hacking can result in losses. People and enterprises can be affected. The costs of a hack can be substantial. Both personal and professional accounts are at risk.

A report from IBM reveals that the average data breach in the U.S. costs $9.44 million. This is more than double the global average of $4.35 million.

Breaches in the health care industry are happening more often. PharMerica, NationsBenefits and NextGen have been attacked recently. Studies show that these attacks are becoming more expensive and profitable for the attackers.

The health care industry pays $10.1 million for an average data breach. That's 42% higher than last year and higher than everyone else. Almost half of all cyberattacks hit health care in 2022, says a report from Black Kite. The pandemic made things worse for them.

The healthcare industry had a lot of data. Everyone focused on the health center. But hackers could get in. There were many ways to do it. Like old software and shared data. This could be dangerous for sensitive health information. The company said this is a problem.

Frank Appunn is a cybersecurity professor at Thomas College. The college got almost a million dollars from the government to expand its cybersecurity program. They want to help with the increasing need for information security analysts. There's a picture of Frank Appunn in a computer lab. The photo is from before. Michael G. Seamans took the picture for the Morning Sentinel newspaper.

Data is very important, even more than credit card information. The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said this in a report in November. People who hack can sell medical records for $10 to $1,000 for each record. In 2021, security problems affected 45 million people. This is 32% more than last year. We do not have information about 2022 yet.

The committee said cyberattacks harming patient care aren't a matter of if or when anymore. They're talking about how often and how bad the consequences are.

The pandemic has caused more risk beyond health care.

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of more people doing business online. Technology is improving for remote work. This creates more opportunities for cybercrime.

Small data breaches can result in $164 per record, a rise from $146 in 2020. The IBM report states this for breaches involving 2,200 to 102,000 records. But the calculation for larger breaches is not included in the study.

According to Knowlton from Dirigo, hackers usually get in through an end user. Businesses should teach workers how to spot cybercrime because it's getting worse. The issue will keep happening for a while.

He said it's not moving.

Check your email and finish registering.

Use the form to reset your password. Enter your account email address. We will then send you a reset code email.

Read more
Similar news
This week's most popular news