Cybersecurity

On July 19, 2024, a CrowdStrike software update unleashed mayhem on computer systems at airports, banks and more from Australia to Atlanta. What happened, and what lessons can we take away?

Social media screening company Ferretly has launched a tool to help officials weed out extremists who apply for such election-season jobs as canvassers and poll watchers, the latest example of election-securing tech.

A federal grand jury has indicted a North Korean national for his part in an alleged hacking and extortion conspiracy that targeted a Kansas hospital, NASA, U.S. Air Force bases and health-care entities from Colorado to Florida.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon has tracked down the source of recent presidential ballot deadline misinformation. It originated from Grok, the AI chatbot available to premium users of social media platform X.

The technology company joins Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI and others in agreeing to voluntary measures around artificial intelligence. These will include testing AI systems for security flaws and risks.

Minnesota’s new cybersecurity tool translates cyber risk into dollars and cents, empowering agencies to make data-driven decisions that protect critical assets and optimize security spending.

Two proposals now before the state Legislature would bar sending push notifications to kids at night and during school hours, and prohibit businesses from collecting, using or sharing minors’ data without their consent.

The worldwide Microsoft computer outage meant 1,894 customers at the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles on Friday could not be served. About 1,300 people with appointments were able to come back later.

Panelists in a recent webinar discussed how bad actors might want to tamper with voter registration databases — and how election offices around the country have been working to stay resilient against threats.

Customers of the financial institution, Webster Bank, had accessibility problems during the global technology outage that began Friday. The bank, headquartered in Stamford, Conn., said the issues have since been resolved.

Grove City, Ohio, has taken a cautious, intentional approach to regulating artificial intelligence. An AI policy enacted late last year specifies implementation of AI-powered tools is approved on a case-by-case basis.

The university will use a grant from the National Science Foundation to improve its hardware and software, as well as train more than 200 undergraduates and 16 graduate students to apply advanced technologies to research.

Texas A&M University canceled classes on July 18 and 19 after a faulty software update from the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike negatively affected TAMU servers, workstations and work laptops.

An update to a program rolled out by the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike and installed automatically instantly crashed millions of computers running Microsoft programs until manual fixes could be undertaken.

Answer: With fake fixes.

The Superior Court of Los Angeles County was hit by ransomware Friday, disrupting “many critical systems.” The courthouses remained closed Monday as the jurisdiction worked to recover from the cyber attack.

The Municipal Local Cybersecurity Grant Program is doling out nearly $7 million to cities and towns, regional school districts, and other local governments within the state.

Several recently released cyber industry reports show steady or growing ransomware numbers in 2024 so far, and impacts on business and government have never been greater.