The new target of hackers in the US have public schools

The new target of hackers in the US have public schools

Hackers using stolen confidential information for profit, shifted to a new object data capture — public schools. This is due to the fact that the system of information security in these institutions remains very weak.

For 2017 the cyber thieves hacked into the system more than three dozen schools in Georgia, South Carolina and California, stealing data about the students (social security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, data on academic performance, medical evidence, etc.) and payroll accounts of the employees. After the kidnapping, the attackers demanded a ransom, threatening to publish information. Some burglars demanded money for unlocking with e-mail and the school website.

The new target of hackers in the US have public schools

Several school districts against the recommendations of the FBI, paid hackers for data recovery. But other school officials this situation prompted the hiring of consultants for cyber security to combat the trend, which, according to experts, rapidly «gaining momentum».

In 2016, the complaint Centre the Internet crime FBI got 2 673 statement about the hacker attack and subsequent ransom demand from various agencies. The last place was taken by the school. Material losses of victims of cyber attacks in 2016 are estimated at more than $ 2.4 million. For comparison, in 2015, the damage amounted to 1.62 million dollars.

«Bad guys can use this information to create fake IDs and things like that, and subsequently to sell them on the black market for big money,» said zuli Gonzalez, a former expert on cybersecurity at the national security Agency, edition of the Wall Street Journal.

Los Angeles Valley College in California paid hackers a ransom of $28 000 in January this year. Dorchester School District Two in South Carolina paid $2900 in July. Some schools and colleges demand a ransom and all the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bank transfers and cash hackers «don’t like», usually translated ransom in bitcoin because the cryptocurrency is difficult to track.

Hackers access data in various ways, but primarily through users opening infected e-mails, links or programs.

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