Content by Mathew J. Schwartz

Mega-Breaches Bump Up 2024 Victim Count

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 28, 2025

The number of U.S. organizations falling victim to a data breach appears to be holding steady, as viewed on an annual basis, according to the latest annual data breach report from the Identity Theft Resource Center, which counted 3,158 reported data breaches in 2024, down just 1% from 2023.

Change Healthcare Now Counts 190 Million Data Breach Victims

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 27, 2025

One of the biggest data breaches of 2024 is even worse than previously reported, as the tally of Change Healthcare breach victims has now reached 190 million individuals. The cost tied to the attack is $3.1 billion, according to its owner, U.S. health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group.

Patching Lags for Vulnerabilities Targeted by Salt Typhoon

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 24, 2025

Chinese nation-state hackers who surreptitiously gained "broad and full" access to telecommunications networks in the U.S. and dozens of other countries have regularly exploited known flaws in their networking gear that the victims failed to patch, security experts have warned.

Don't Get Schooled: Lessons From PowerSchool's Big Breach

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 24, 2025

While PowerSchool's investigation into the massive theft of its customers' data is continuing, clear lessons have already emerged. Count among them the importance of using multifactor authentication, which could have safeguarded access to PowerSchool's exploited customer support systems.

Information Security Career Advice: 'Pick Your Battles'

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 24, 2025

With the pace of global change so often creating a sense of accelerating chaos, it's easy to view cyber defenders as firefighters constantly on call. But Black Hat conference founder and creator Jeff Moss warned that "things have been on fire for as long as I can remember."

Moss on AI Disruption: 'Everything, Everywhere, All at Once'

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 23, 2025

The pace of change including the rise of artificial intelligence and a sense of accelerating chaos can make cybersecurity professionals feel like "things are kind of everything, everywhere, all at once," said Black Hat conference founder Jeff Moss. How should they respond?

Fraud Watch: E-Skimmers and Scam E-Commerce Sites Still Bite

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 22, 2025

It's an old story: Criminals rake in profits by using digital "e-skimming" software, running scam e-commerce sites and selling stolen payment card data. Unfortunately, it's made continually new thanks to adaptability of cybercriminals, who keep their tool set relevant and ever more lucrative.

PowerSchool Faces 23 Lawsuits Over Schools' Mega Data Breach

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 20, 2025

Educational software-maker PowerSchool faces over 20 lawsuits seeking class-action status, filed in the wake of a massive data breach involving current and former student and faculty data being held by an as-yet-unknown number of school districts across the U.S., Canada and Bermuda.

Fortinet Users See Active Zero-Day Warnings Past and Present

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 17, 2025

Fortinet has released patches to fix a zero-day vulnerability being actively exploited by attackers. Separately, researchers are warning customers to review their infrastructure after attackers leaked configuration details - including firewall rules and plaintext VPN passwords - for 15,000 devices.

Researchers Spot Serious UEFI Secure Boot Bypass Flaw

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 16, 2025

Researchers are warning Microsoft Windows as well as many Linux distribution users to install updates that revoke permissions for a vulnerable driver that attackers can use to target most systems, allowing them to bypass UEFI Secure Boot and install a bootkit to take full control of a system.

Ransomware Leak Sites Suggest Attacks Reached Record High

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 15, 2025

While ransomware groups' data-leak sites regularly lie, if taken at face value, in December 2024 they collectively listed the largest number of victims ever seen in a one-month period, dominated by RansomHub, Play and Akira operations, plus a bevy of newcomers, researchers report.

Under Discussion: UK Mandatory Ransomware Incident Reporting

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 14, 2025

Banning ransom payments by public sector and critical infrastructure entities, notifying the government of any intent to pay a ransom, and reporting incidents to authorities comprise three counter-ransomware initiatives proposed by the British government. Which ones will pass muster?

Microsoft Sues Harmful Fake AI Image Crime Ring

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 13, 2025

Microsoft filed a lawsuit targeting a cybercrime service used to generate "thousands of harmful images" by subverting the guardrails built into its Azure generative artificial intelligence tools. The company said attackers built a tool that reverse-engineered the guardrails in its AI platform.

PowerSchool's Breach Fallacy: Paying Criminals for Promises

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 10, 2025

Data breach victim PowerSchool, maker of a widely used K-12 student information system platform, has been attempting to assure schools, and parents and guardians, by saying its attacker has promised to delete the stolen data. What's the old saying about those who fail to learn from history?

Zero-Day Patch Alert: Ivanti Connect Secure Under Attack

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 9, 2025

VPN appliance maker Ivanti has begun releasing updates to patch a zero-day vulnerability being actively exploited by suspected nation-state attackers. Experts are warning users to immediately update their devices, after factory resetting them, to flush any malware attackers may have installed.