IT Security Stories to Watch: UC Berkeley Suffers Cyber Attack

University of California, Berkeley has notified 80,000 current and former faculty members, students and community members about a cyber attack against its financial system.

And as a result, the university tops this week’s list of IT security newsmakers to watch, followed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Online Trust Alliance (OTA) and Acecard Trojan.

What can managed service providers and their customers learn from these IT security newsmakers? Check out this week’s edition of IT security stories to watch to find out.

1. UC Berkeley alerts community about cyber attack

UC Berkeley officials last week said they discovered the school’s financial system was accessed illegally.

Cybercriminals gained access to the system via a security flaw that UC Berkeley was in the process of patching, according to university officials. 

There is no evidence that any unauthorized individual actually accessed, acquired or used any personal information from the system, but UC Berkeley is informing those who may have been impacted to watch out for possible misuse of their personal information.

2. Additional 390,000 IRS accounts may have been compromised due to cyber scam

The IRS noted an additional 390,000 taxpayer accounts may have been compromised after cybercriminals illegally accessed taxpayers’ personal information.

IRS officials pointed out the unauthorized access was related to a cyber scam involving its “Get Transcript” application that was discovered in May, and the personal information from more than 700,000 accounts may have been exposed.

“The IRS is committed to protecting taxpayers on multiple fronts against tax-related identity theft,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a prepared statement. “We are moving quickly to help these taxpayers.”

3. OTA: Cybercriminals continue to target e-file tax websites

A new OTA study revealed e-file tax sites remain top targets for cybercriminals. 

The study indicated 46 percent of these sites failed security protocols and either lacked email authentication tools or had vulnerabilities that could result in a user data being compromised. 

“Criminals are increasingly successful in compromising users’ identities and bank accounts while violating the privacy of the American people,” OTA wrote in its report. 

4. Kaspersky Lab discovers Acecard Trojan

IT security software company Kaspersky Lab has released details about the Acecard Trojan, an Android banking Trojan. 

Kaspersky Lab said the Acecard Trojan can attack users of nearly 50 different online financial applications and services and bypass Google Play store security measures. 

“The combination of Acecard’s capabilities and methods of propagation make this mobile banker one of the most dangerous threats to users today,” Roman Unuchek, senior malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab USA, said in a prepared statement. 

What are your thoughts on this week’s IT security stories to watch? Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at [email protected].