An American sentenced to 25 years for laundering money, TD Bank alerts customers in the U.S. of a data theft, and more.
Welcome to Cyber Security Today. It’s Wednesday, October 5th, 2022 I’m Howard Solomon, contributing reporter on cybersecurity for ITWorldCanada.com.
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A man has been sentenced to 25 years in an American prison for laundering millions of dollars from romance scams, business email compromises and other online fraud schemes. The sentence, handed down Monday by a judge in Atlanta, came after a jury convicted the man in May. Five other Georgia residents pleaded guilty in recent months to being part of the gang.
Canadian-controlled TD Bank is notifying an unknown number of customers in the U.S that an employee improperly accessed their accounts and gave personal data to a third party. In a copy of the letter sent to customers in Vermont the bank said the incident happened in May and caused fraudulent activity on some accounts. Information stolen included customers’ names, address, Social Security number, date of birth, and their bank account number. The bank called it an isolated incident. TD Bank operates in a number of states on the east coast of the United States.
In Monday’s podcast I told you that on-premise versions of Microsoft Exchange are at risk of being compromised by two newly-discovered vulnerabilities. At the time this podcast was recorded, Microsoft hadn’t issued a patch but has told administrators of mitigations they can take. However, according to some experts on Twitter the mitigations aren’t sufficient. Administrators should carefully consider the steps to take to protect Exchange servers.
As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month Canadian IT reseller CDW reminds employees they have responsibilities to ensure they are being safe online with company-owned devices. That means staying off public Wi-Fi networks, such as those offered by malls, restaurants and airports. Instead use the safer cellular network on your mobile device. All software on your devices should be kept up to date. And you should know how to get hold of the IT department if you need help.
There’s been a significant increase in online fraudulent activity in Canada, the head of the RCMP’s National Cybercrime Co-ordination Unit told a parliamentary committee this week. According to the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre, so far this year there have been over 61,000 reports of fraud of all kinds. An estimated $332 million has been lost to victims.
Finally, IT World Canada will host another of its free MapleSec cybersecurity summits in two weeks. Unlike recent ones, this will be a hybrid event: The Wednesday, October 19th sessions will be held live in Toronto at The Aga Khan Museum. For those of you in the city, it’s centrally located near Eglinton and Don Mills Road. On Thursday, October 20th there will be three hours of online sessions. You can register here.
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