Weekly Cybersecurity Recap January 20
- By Steven
- Jan 20, 2023
2023 has definitely gone off with a bang. In the last few weeks, two of the biggest names in online business were hacked, as well as an insulin provider, respiratory therapist, and yet another of California's departments. There seems to be no limit to what hackers are willing to target and no limit to who they're willing to hurt. No one has been immune to their gaze or fury for years, and it's starting to show. Let's take a look at this week's most notable breaches. You'll want to pay attention; trust us.
NortonLifeLock
Norton was victimized by a credential-stuffing attack. On December 1, 2022, Norton noted an alarming amount of failed login attempts and launched an investigation. It was found that a large number of people were affected in this breach, though Norton has not said anything about knowing what breach the stolen credentials may have come from, instead only saying that they were bought online. This hack was not to be taken lightly.
Lincare
Lincare is a nationwide respiratory therapist that employs over 11,000 people. The company discovered in September 2021 that there was unauthorized activity within its systems, and it pushed an investigation immediately involving all the necessary authorities and investigators. The hacker accessed a part of the system that held birthdays, names, addresses, medical information, insurance details, Lincare account numbers, prescription information, and social security numbers. This hack was incredibly lucrative for the hacker and everyone they associate with or plan on selling to.
California Department of Social Services
In this breach, the only things accessed were names and social security numbers, which are unlikely to get anyone a lot of money. However, that doesn't appear to be the motive. In fact, there was no motive. A CDSS employee mistakenly sent an email containing an undisclosed number of individuals' personally identifying information to an unknown third party. A CDSS has assured Californians there's nothing to worry about, as the recipient immediately deleted the email and removed it from their trash. However, in our world, sometimes it's hard to believe that you can actually trust these individuals.
Insulet
Insulet is best known for creating the Omnipod, a form of insulin that makes life much easier for thousands of people with diabetes. This breach was also the result of a botched email. This time, the email was sent to a marketing partner of the company, resulting in the email being quickly deleted and removed. Again, it may be naive to trust that the recipient deleted these emails, so stay on guard.
PayPal
More than 429 million people use PayPal. An estimated 35,000 people were affected, so it's a rather small number in comparison. PayPal was also victimized by a credential stuffing attack, so it was rather easy to notice. When there are an unusual number of failed logins within a short period of time, the company is notified. Therefore, PayPal changed the passwords to every affected account immediately.