Category Archives: illinois

Lawmakers offer Illinois election work as blueprint to secure 2020

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U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday heard from Illinois officials who were on the front lines of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election in a hearing that held the state up as a model for election security. Since Russian hackers breached Illinois’ voter registration database in 2016, Illinois officials have set up an internal computer network to better protect voter data, established a “Cyber Navigator” program that embeds IT specialists in local election offices, and used the Illinois National Guard to protect the 2018 midterm vote. “It’s my hope that programs such as this can serve as models for other states,” said Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Illinois, vice chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Committee, which held the hearing. She was referring to the Cyber Navigator program, to which Illinois has dedicated roughly $6.9 million, the great majority of it federal grant money. To build on progress in Illinois and elsewhere, election security experts have called for larger […]

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Vimeo sued for storing faceprints of people without their say-so

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The suit was filed under BIPA, the Illinois law that requires written consent to grab people’s faceprints – the same law Facebook’s battling. Continue reading Vimeo sued for storing faceprints of people without their say-so→

Ransomware cripples Internet and phone lines at Rockford Public Schools District

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A ransomware attack on Rockford Public Schools (RPS) District 205 in the State of Illinois has downed school systems, including phone lines, the district said in a letter to staff and parents. The outage will likely last “several more days”… Continue reading Ransomware cripples Internet and phone lines at Rockford Public Schools District→

Facebook facial recognition: class action suit gets court’s go ahead

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The court said facial recognition could well harm privacy rights, given its “detailed, encyclopedic, and effortlessly compiled” biometrics collection. Continue reading Facebook facial recognition: class action suit gets court’s go ahead→

Unveiling its latest cohort, Alchemist announces $4 million in funding for its enterprise accelerator

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The enterprise software and services-focused accelerator Alchemist has raised $4 million in fresh financing from investors BASF and the Qatar Development Bank, just in time for its latest demo day unveiling 20 new companies. Qatar and BASF join previous investors, including the venture firms Mayfield, Khosla Ventures, Foundation Capital, DFJ and USVP, and corporate investors […] Continue reading Unveiling its latest cohort, Alchemist announces $4 million in funding for its enterprise accelerator→

A Biochemist Is Beating a GOP Incumbent Backed by the Chemical Industry in Key House Race

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In the extremely tight race for Illinois’s sixth district seat, a recent scandal over dangerous emissions from a medical supply plant has brought environmental issues front and center. Continue reading A Biochemist Is Beating a GOP Incumbent Backed by the Chemical Industry in Key House Race→

Phishing attack exposes data of more than a million patients across Midwest

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Nearly 1.4 million people across the U.S. Midwest may have had their personal information exposed in a data breach at one of the region’s largest health care networks.  UnityPoint Health, a network of hospitals, clinics, and home care services in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, said this week that multiple internal email accounts were compromised between March 14 and April 3, following a series of phishing attacks.  The phishing emails were disguised to appear to have originated from a “trusted executive” within UnityPoint Health.  The stolen data included patient names, addresses, dates of birth, extensive medical records including surgical information and lab results, insurance information and, in some cases, Social Security, bank account, and driver’s license numbers.  According to UnityPoint Health’s press release, the attack was likely financially motivated, rather than focused on obtaining patient information, as the hackers tried to use the company’s email system to divert payroll or vendor payments.  Stolen personal […]

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The Mysterious Disappearance of North America’s First Dogs

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When people migrated to North America some 10,000 years ago, they brought their canine companions with them. Continue reading The Mysterious Disappearance of North America’s First Dogs→

DHS notifies 21 states of Russian hacking attempts prior to 2016 election

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Nearly a year after the end of the 2016 campaign, the Department of Homeland Security on Friday night notified 21 states of attempted Russian hacking against their election systems. A small number of networks were compromised, CyberScoop has learned, but none of the targeted systems involved the tallying of votes. For the majority of the states targeted, only early-stage activity like scanning was seen. A minority of targeted states saw serious attempts to compromise networks, some of which were successful. ,Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington are among the states that have acknowledged receiving a notification. The remaining states are publicly unknown. News of the targeting first came to light in June when Jeanette Manfra, acting deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity and communications at the DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate, testified during a hearing held by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that focused on Russian interference in the U.S. election. […]

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