There are many reasons that businesses and their IT teams may weigh up the option to backup and protect data with an inhouse solutions versus outsourcing data backup.
Continue readingOn 22 September 2016 Yahoo! released a statement and the full extent of the 2014 Yahoo! data breach was revealed. With at least 500 million Yahoo! accounts being hacked and their information stolen, this is to date the biggest data theft that the Internet has experienced. The occurrence of data theft instances has increased rapidly in recent years, but this one is quite severe.
The breach occurred in late 2014, and it is unclear how long Yahoo! have been aware of the enormity of it. In their statement, they also claim that they believe a “state-sponsored actor” (hacker paid by the government) was responsible for the crime. Their official statement came two months after the company admitted to investigating a hacker who was selling the data of some 200 million Yahoo! stolen accounts on a dark web marketplace for a meagre one bitcoin (more or less $2000).
This airing of Yahoo!’s dirty laundry comes at a very inappropriate time for them, as a company named Verizon agreed to buy Yahoo! in late July 2016 for $4.83 billion. The acquisition was scheduled to be finalised in early 2017. Verizon only found out about the breach in September.
Damages to Yahoo! and Verizon as companies set aside – let us reflect on what the ramifications are for the Yahoo! account holders in question:
It’s fair to accept that most users won’t take online account security advice from Yahoo!.
Meanwhile, our hearts bleed for Yahoo!. Godspeed!
There are many reasons that businesses and their IT teams may weigh up the option to backup and protect data with an inhouse solutions versus outsourcing data backup.
Continue readingCyber-criminals are increasingly viewing education institutions as easy prey. No surprise then that the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently warned of a spike in the targeting of schools, universities and colleges.
Continue readingThe majority of Google services went down yesterday, leading to widespread disruption all around the world. Users were left waiting for almost an hour before hearing they could regain access.
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