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Cybersecurity

Police & Fire
Hospital ERs in Bergen, Montclair Closed By Nationwide Ransomware Attack Hospital ERs in Bergen, Montclair Closed By Nationwide Ransomware Attack
Hospital ERs in Bergen, Montclair Closed By Nationwide Ransomware Attack The latest in a continuing series of nationwide ransomware attacks closed two hospital emergency rooms in New Jersey. Authorities haven't disclosed what's been demanded by the cybercriminals who forced ambulances to divert to other hospitals from Pascack Valey Medical Center in Westwood and Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair beginning on Thanksgiving evening. Lab work, radiology, scheduling, billing -- basically anything involving computer software -- apparently were affected. "No one can use the computers in the buildings," a source said. "The hospitals are doing everything by paper…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
They Steal Your Heart, Then Steal Your Money: Romance Scammers Make It Look Easy They Steal Your Heart, Then Steal Your Money: Romance Scammers Make It Look Easy
They Steal Your Heart, Then Steal Your Money: Romance Scammers Make It Look Easy It's heartbreaking to discover that someone you've become enamored with online isn't into you, but it’s even worse to realize that person just made off with $3,500 of your money. That’s what happened to a Glen Rock resident who ended up wiring the dough to a sweet talker in the Dominican Republic. Suffice to say: It wasn’t coming back. Although $3,500 is a significant sum to some, it’s couch cushion change compared with the $450,000 in crypto lost last year by another romance scam victim from Glen Rock. According to the Federal Trade Commission, a staggering $1.3 BILLION was lost by 70,000…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds 'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds
'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds A 23-year-old British citizen who hacked the Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates, among others, pleaded guilty in federal court to a host of related charges as part of a deal with the government. Joseph James O'Connor -- also known as "PlugwalkJoe" -- technically faces up to 77 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines but will likely get somewhere between 10 to 20 years when all is said and done. The Liverpudlian hacker admitted during a plea hearing in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 9, that he committed one of the largest high-pro…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Navy Vet From NJ Unmasked As Pro-Russian Propagandist Donbass Devushka Navy Vet From NJ Unmasked As Pro-Russian Propagandist Donbass Devushka
Navy Vet From NJ Unmasked As Pro-Russian Propagandist Donbass Devushka Donbass Devushka is not who she appears to be. According to the Wall Street Journal, a popular pro-Russian social media account is actually run by Sarah Bils, a former Naval officer and native of Camden County. Bils, who was born in Voorhees Township, now lives in Washington near the Naval Station Whidbey Island, according to numerous reports. On social media, Donbass Devushka regularly celebrated the deaths of Ukrainian soldiers and posted videos to YouTube.  On Telegram, she helped share US intelligence information that the government claims was recently leaked by Jack Teixeira, accord…

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by Sam Barron
News
Data Breach Leaks Social Security Numbers In Central Jersey School District Data Breach Leaks Social Security Numbers In Central Jersey School District
Data Breach Leaks Social Security Numbers In Central Jersey School District A school district in Somerset County announced a serious data breach in its computer system Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District (BRRSD) said an unauthorized user accessed school employees' Social Security numbers between Dec. 10 and Dec. 12, according to this statement.  The district didn’t say how many people were affected by the computer breach. In addition to Social Security numbers, the hacker gained access to insurance enrollment information for employees s and unspecified “other individuals,” the district said. The school district said it sent letters to the affected e…

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by Jon Craig
News
Seesaw App Used By Elementary Schools Sends NSFW Photos To Parents In Apparent Nationwide Hack Seesaw App Used By Elementary Schools Sends NSFW Photos To Parents In Apparent Nationwide Hack
Seesaw App Used By Elementary Schools Sends Nsfw Photos To Parents In Apparent Nationwide Hack Elementary schools across the US are urging parents to not open the messages on the Seesaw app after an apparent hack sent out "inappropriate" images starting on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022.  "The platform was hacked and is experiencing a nationwide issue where some school district families and teachers were receiving links/URLs to inappropriate images," officials at a Schodock elementary school in New York said on its website.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Seesaw (@seesawlearning) Most schools are simply asking parents and guard…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
NJ Fertility Clinic Agrees To Pay State $495,000 Over Hack That Exposed 14,663 Patients' Data NJ Fertility Clinic Agrees To Pay State $495,000 Over Hack That Exposed 14,663 Patients' Data
NJ Fertility Clinic Agrees To Pay State $495,000 Over Hack That Exposed 14,663 Patients' Data A New Jersey fertility clinic agreed to pay the state nearly $500,000 to settle an investigation into a data breach that compromised the personal information of 14,663 patients, authorities said. The hack “allowed multiple instances of unauthorized access” to protected health information of patients of the Diamond Institute for Infertility and Menopause, LLC, which operates practices in Millburn, Dover and in Goshen, NY, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said Tuesday. “Inadequate data systems and protocols are every hacker’s dream,” state Division of Consumer Affairs Acting…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
PHONY FED: Trenton Woman Charged With Impersonating FBI Agent PHONY FED: Trenton Woman Charged With Impersonating FBI Agent
Phony FED: Trenton Woman Charged With Impersonating FBI Agent She wore an empty gun holster on her hip, told Trenton police “I’m FBI" and said she specialized in cyber security at the bureau’s Philadelphia office, authorities said. Police believed her at first. Then she pushed it too far, authorities said. Nealeigh Glasper, 29, of Trenton, now faces charges of impersonating a federal agent. Glasper was a passenger in a car pulled over for having heavily tinted windows – a violation of state law – in a high-crime area of Trenton, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. She introduced herself as “Special Agent Glasper,” “repeatedly told the office…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ruthless But Reliable? Ransom Group Tied To Colonial Pipeline Hack Says They're Not Bad Guys Ruthless But Reliable? Ransom Group Tied To Colonial Pipeline Hack Says They're Not Bad Guys
Ruthless But Reliable? Ransom Group Tied To Colonial Pipeline Hack Says They're Not Bad Guys Darknet cyberhackers whose ransomware forced the shutdown of a 5,500-mile pipeline between New Jersey and Texas said Monday that they’re in it for the money and not to disrupt society. DarkSide, which popped up last summer, has presented itself as a band of online Robin Hoods who sell the tools to extort businesses and organizations to cyber-burglars and then donate a portion of their take to charitable organizations. It remained unclear exactly who targeted the Colonial Pipeline on Friday, jamming an estimate 2.5 million daily barrels of jet fuel, gasoline and other refined product deliver…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Police: ‘Zoombombers’ Invade Asian-American Virtual Church Service Police: ‘Zoombombers’ Invade Asian-American Virtual Church Service
Police: ‘Zoombombers’ Invade Asian-American Virtual Church Service Several people hijacked a virtual service of a predominately Asian-American church in Englewood, uttering ethnic slurs and posting pornographic images, authorities said. More than 150 congregants and others with the Bergen County church were subject to the bias attack on Zoom, Police Detective Capt. Timothy Torell said Saturday. Although invasions of video conferences were once dismissed as trolling, that changed once the spread of COVID-19 made Zoom the app of choice for many forced to communicate remotely. The FBI considers the systemic “weaponization” of Zoom as hate speech and harassme…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Sex Offender Indicted For Trying To Hire Dark Web Hit Man To Kill NY Teen NJ Sex Offender Indicted For Trying To Hire Dark Web Hit Man To Kill NY Teen
NJ Sex Offender Indicted For Trying To Hire Dark Web Hit Man To Kill NY Teen A New Jersey man who admitted trading sexually explicit images with a minor took a different tack before pleading guilty: Looking to have the kid killed, he paid $20,000 in bitcoin to a bogus murder-for-hire site on the dark web, a federal indictment alleges. John Michael Musbach, 31, was a free man, having been sentenced in February 2018 to a two-year suspended sentence with lifetime parole supervision for his exchanges with the then-13-year-old from upstate New York. A year or so had passed when cybercrime sleuth Chris Monteiro tipped federal agents off to messages that Musbach exchanged …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
COVID-19, Black Friday A 'Super Bowl' Combo For Newest Scams, Here's How To Not Get Beat COVID-19, Black Friday A 'Super Bowl' Combo For Newest Scams, Here's How To Not Get Beat
Covid-19, Black Friday A 'Super Bowl' Combo For Newest Scams, Here's How To Not Get Beat WATCH OUT: The combination of COVID-19 and Black Friday creates the ultimate game for criminals who are skilled at robbing online customers blind, New Jersey's top law enforcer warned. The opportunities for cashing in at your expense this week is "like the Super Bowl for cyber criminals," New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. "They are good at the game and have had time to practice and rehearse each play.”  Grewal and the Division of Consumer Affairs warned consumers to watch out for new online scams and a slew of cyber-attacks as the holiday shopping season kicks off on w…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Zoom Bombed: Porn-Sharing Hackers Disrupt Raritan Council Meeting Zoom Bombed: Porn-Sharing Hackers Disrupt Raritan Council Meeting
Zoom Bombed: Porn-Sharing Hackers Disrupt Raritan Council Meeting A New Jersey town council trying to meet for the first time last month since COVID-19 restrictions were implemented was derailed by a group of hackers. The hackers shared pornography and yelled profanities during the Oct. 27 Raritan Borough Council Meeting, aired for the public over Zoom. The meeting was quickly shut down but continued off the air,  Mayor Zachary Bray said. A phone-in option for those participating from home. No major business was acted upon, the mayor said. The council will meet again Nov. 17. Hello, Tonight’s council meeting was hacked and we are terribly embarra…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
FAKE NEWS: Warning Of Thieves Using Chemically-Laced COVID-19 Masks To Rob Residents Won't Die FAKE NEWS: Warning Of Thieves Using Chemically-Laced COVID-19 Masks To Rob Residents Won't Die
Fake NEWS: Warning Of Thieves Using Chemically-Laced Covid-19 Masks To Rob Residents Won't Die The folks at Facebook thought they’d killed a viral “warning” that villains were going door to door handing out coronavirus protective masks doused with chemicals to knock out unsuspecting victims and rob them. But it still won’t go away. Facebook yanked the bogus post, along with two stunt videos in which people acted out the scenario, as part of its fight against false news and bad info. “False information,” a warning that replaced both videos now says. “Checked by independent fact-checkers.” Yet people are still sharing the actual image -- not just in the U.S. but around the world – on …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Federal authorities said they've gotten help from domain providers and others in smashing hundreds of online sites exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to commit fraud and other crimes. As of Tuesday, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) had received and reviewed more than 3,600 complaints related to COVID-19 scams, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Many of them “operated from websites that advertised fake vaccines and cures, operated fraudulent charity drives, delivered malware, or hosted various other types of scams,” federal officials said in a release. To attract traffic, t…

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by Jerry DeMarco