November 23, 2024

The Queens County Citizen

Complete Canadian News World

Lock-up computer systems are only part of the ‘scary’ ransomware curse

The Canadian Press

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Morne Chappell, one of dozens of potential third-party victims, said sensitive information could not be compromised as he accepted ExpertDoc’s assurances.

Acrion, which has until the first weekend of October to pay, will not discuss its condition.

Netwalker recently published gigabytes of internal data from a Canadian tire store in Kilowana, BC. In response to a question, the Canadian Tire Corporation said store computers were damaged and authorities are investigating.

“The incident did not affect Canadian Tire Corporation’s computer networks that process customer information or purchases,” the company said, adding that store employees had compromised their personal information.

The college of nurses, which took members over a week to publicly acknowledge the September 8 attack, said it would get back on its feet, despite some service cuts.

“We share the grief and frustration of our members that this has happened,” college CEO Anne Coglan said in a statement. “Members can guarantee that we will notify people directly if we detect any danger.”

The consequences of ransomware are financial and reputable. For example, this month, a hospital in Dసsseldorf, Germany, was unable to admit a patient for emergency treatment after a cyber attack apparently weakened its IT system, officials said. The woman died.

Such attacks are increasingly happening. Previous victims in Canada include municipalities – including Stratford and Vasaga Beach in Ontario and the regional district of Okanagan-Similkameen in BC – health care organizations and charities. Cloud storage companies have also become attractive targets with the trove of third party data.

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