Facebook and Instagram are banned from using targeted ads in Europe
Meta’s Facebook and Instagram will have to stop using targeted ads across their platforms for even longer, just months after a temporary Norwegian Data Protection Authority (DPA) ban came into play in July. Now, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) is to ban the processing of personal data for targeted ads, and its effects will be felt across the entire European Economic Area (EEA), including EU countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. The “binding decision” was issued by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which instructed the Irish DPC to impose the ban within two weeks.
Okta data breach exposed personal information of employees
Okta is warning nearly 5,000 employees that their personal information was exposed after a third-party vendor was breached. Okta is a San Fransisco-based cloud identity and access management solutions provider whose Single Sign-On (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and API access management services are used by thousands of organizations worldwide. The data breach notification warns of a security incident that impacted Rightway Healthcare, which provides healthcare coverage for Okta employees and their families.
Mortgage and loan giant Mr. Cooper blames cyberattack for ongoing outage
Mortgage and loan giant Mr. Cooper says a “cybersecurity incident” earlier this week was the cause of an ongoing outage, adding that the company is “working to resolve the issue.” The Texas-based company said in a statement on its website that on October 31, Mr. Cooper “became the target of a cyber security incident and took immediate steps to lock down our systems in order to keep your data safe.” In a separate notice, Mr. Cooper said it is “actively investigating this event to determine if any data has been compromised.”
FTX crypto-villain Sam Bankman-Fried convicted on all charges
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of crypto exchange FTX and trading firm Alameda Research, has been found guilty of seven criminal charges. FTX was once valued at $32 billion, and Bankman-Fried was fêted as a visionary thanks in part to his willingness to spruik his firm, and crypto, to almost anyone willing to put a microphone in front of his face. FTX also spent lavishly on sponsorships and political donations, building a brand that stood out in the scrappy world of cryptocurrency.
Apple MacOS malware targets crypto community and engineers
A new malware discovered on Apple’s macOS — tied to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus — has reportedly targeted blockchain engineers of a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The macOS malware “KandyKorn” is a stealthy backdoor capable of data retrieval, directory listing, file upload/download, secure deletion, process termination and command execution, according to an analysis by Elastic Security Labs.
Dallas County Cyberattack Averted: IT Team Thwarts Play Ransomware Group’s Data Siege
Dallas County officials breathe a sigh of relief as their skilled IT staff successfully mitigates the impact of a significant cyberattack. Initially reported on September 31, the Dallas County Cyberattack was orchestrated by the notorious Play ransomware group, which claimed to have extracted a substantial volume of data during the cyber siege. However, the county’s vigilant IT team has effectively interrupted the data exfiltration process and prevented the encryption of vital files and systems, curbing the potential devastation of the Dallas County Cyberattack.