September 4, 2023
In this Episode:
Mark Miller:It is a holiday here in the United States. With many taking the day off, I’m going to take a couple minutes to evaluate where we’ve come in the first year of It’s 5:05, and let you know where we’re headed in the second year.
Edwin Kwan:The University of Sydney has suffered a third party data breach exposing students’ personal information. The university said that the issue was isolated to a single platform and had no impact on other university systems.
Katy Craig:The FBI working with international partners has dismantled Qakbot a massive and disruptive botnet. QakBot was behind at least 40 ransomware attacks causing hundreds of millions in damages, and was running on over 700,000 endpoints worldwide, 200,000 of which were in the US.
The Stories Behind the Cybersecurity Headlines
Edwin Kwan
University of Sydney Students Suffers Data Breach
The University of Sydney has suffered a third party data breach exposing students’ personal information.
This is Edwin Kwan from Sydney, Australia.
The university released a notification on 31st August stating that it was made aware of a data breach involving one of their third party providers. The third party was not named. The university said that the issue was isolated to a single platform and had no impact on other university systems.
The platform held personal data of recently applied and enrolled international applicants. Provisional findings had indicated that no domestic student, staff, alumni, or donors data were affected.
The university took immediate steps to secure their systems and contain the incident. They are still working to determine the nature of the information that may have been assessed and are working to contact impacted students and applicants.
The university also stated that they have notified relevant cybersecurity authorities as well as the New South Wales Privacy Commissioner.
Resources
– https://www.sydney.edu.au/about-us/governance-and-structure/cybersecurity/cyber-incident.html
Katy Craig
FBI takes down Qakbot
The FBI working with international partners has dismantled Qakbot a massive and disruptive botnet. FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed that this botnet was a key tool for numerous cyber criminals, including notorious ransomware groups like Conti and Conti and REvil.
This is Katie Craig in San Diego, California.
QakBot botnet has been used for attacks against a variety of organizations across the US from East Coast banks to a West Coast medical device manufacturer. QakBot was behind at least 40 ransomware attacks causing hundreds of millions in damages, and was running on over 700,000 endpoints worldwide, 200,000 of which were in the US.
The FBI’s operation code named Duck Hunt seizes control of the botnet and remotely uninstalled its malware from all infected devices. The FBI even infiltrated a computer owned by a Qakbot admin extracting crucial data including ransom payments in Bitcoin.
This is a significant win in the battle against cyber crime. But like the hydra, for every botnet taken down, another could rise in its place.
This is Katie Craig. Stay safe out there.
Mark Miller
First Year in Review
It is a holiday here in the United States. With many taking the day off, things are a little slow, so I’m going to take a couple minutes to evaluate where we’ve come in the first year of It’s 5:05, and let you know where we’re headed in the second year.
What started as an idea for a daily cybersecurity news briefing, launched at the end of last October, now has over 200 episodes. It has spawned three other shows. “Real Technologists” with Trac Bannon, “daBOM” with DJ Schleen, and “That’s in my EULA?” With Joel McMull.
With four shows pumping out now, with four more being added this fall, we had to come up with a name for the podcast network we’re building. Sourced Network Productions is the home for all our podcasts. The name refers to how the content for the various shows is generated. It’s “sourced” from the community with each show finding its own audience.
But the foundation of the network is, It’s 5:05, the show you’re listening to right now. We’ve got a dedicated team who checks in daily, contributes to the show and have formed a tight bond through the stories they share. The production team of Pokie and Hillary and Val have been rock solid when it comes to getting the show on the air each day.
I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in the 10 months since we started. Today, Labor Day, seems like a good time to say a public thank you to the entire team of contributors and editors. I’m looking forward to continuing to grow with you as we refine and improve what we’re doing and bring new contributors into our journalist community.
A final thank you to you, the listener, for the support you’ve shown as we test new ideas and bring you new types of content.
Thanks for sticking with us. We couldn’t do it without you
