Hackers Redirect Malaysia Airlines, Pop Taylor Swift’s Twitter Account, and Harass Autistic Teen
Taylor Swift performs in Times Square during New Year's Eve celebrations. Charles Sykes/AP
Just another week in ThreatWatch, our regularly updated index of noteworthy data breaches.
In case you missed our coverage this week in ThreatWatch, Nextgov’s regularly updated index of cyber breaches:
Autistic Boy Commits Suicide after Virus Accuses Him of Illicit Online Activity
The tragedy began when Joseph Edwards received a fake police email, claiming – wrongly -- that he had been looking at illegal websites and would have to pay a large sum of money to avoid officers taking action. The letterhead of the bogus message displayed a Cheshire Police insignia.
Alleged ISIS sympathizers defaced the Malaysia Airlines website with propaganda and caustic messages. The airline lost two jets last year with the disappearance of MH370 and the shooting down over Ukraine of MH17.
Hackers Sell Details on Members of Russian Dating Site
Compromised usernames and email addresses of 20 million visitors to a Russia-based online dating service have been offered for sale online.
Perhaps Hacked Taylor Swift Could Learn from Parody Alter Ego ‘@SwiftOnSecurity’
The pop starlet had her Twitter and Instagram accounts hacked, apparently by a fan of the merry hacktivist group Lizard Squad.
Radio Station Systems Held Hostage Twice In One Week
A local station in West Michigan fell victim to so-called ransomware, a worm implanted by hackers that freezes computer files and demands the computer user pay a large fee to unlock the files.