Almost every member of a California city’s finance department has been placed on leave and one has been placed under arrest following a probe into a data breach.  The city of Huntington Park launched an investigation after becoming aware of a “large-scale security breach of electronic financial records at Huntington Park City Hall” that was “intercepted and contained” by staff in the city’s information technology department.  Personal information belonging to Huntington Park city residents is not…

The banks are being exploited in attacks targeting people filing taxes, getting stimulus checks and ordering home deliveries, says Check Point. Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto Phishing campaigns typically try to arouse interest among potential victims through two strategies. They’ll impersonate popular brands and products potentially used by the recipients. And they’ll reference events and items that are timely. If a campaign can do both, so much the better, at least for the criminals. SEE: Social engineering: A…

The University of Hertfordshire in the UK has been hit by a cyber-attack that has taken down its entire IT network as well as blocking access to its cloud-based services. The higher education institution revealed the attack occurred late on Wednesday 14 April in a statement posted on its website earlier today. As a result, all its online classes scheduled today (15 April) have been cancelled. The statement read: “Shortly before 22:00 last night, the University…

The White House is reportedly moving swiftly forward with a plan to harden the security of the US power grid against hacking attacks. According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration has a plan to dramatically improve how power utilities defend themselves against attacks from countries considered to be adversaries in cyberspace – such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China. The six-page draft plan, drawn up by the National Security Council, is said to provide incentives…