Marketers and sales professionals sure love their acronyms, abbreviations, and industry slang words. Using jargon communicates concepts. The word “secure” debatably could be the most common word used to put the customer at ease – you are safe. But does it really tell the truth? Software company MOVEit’s website states, “Guarantee the reliability of core business processes and transfer sensitive data between partners, customers and systems the secure and compliant way with MOVEit.” Last week’s massive cyberattack by Russian hacking group called “Clop” shows that no system is secure. Fraudsters love a challenge. Clop discovered a vulnerability in MOVEit that allowed them to gain access to databases all around the world. Clop is now publicly listing all the victims of the mass-attack which the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) was one.
On June 15, 2023, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced that all Louisianans with a state-issued driver’s license, ID, or car registration have had their information stolen in the mass-hack. The stolen information being anything and everything that one could need to be a Louisianian. Such as driver’s license numbers, vehicle registration data, handicap placard information, birthdates, heights, and eye colors. The number of stolen records involved is thought to be about 6 million.
But Moveit isn’t the only one using jargon. In an attempt to calm the masses, Edwards stated that there was no evidence that the hackers had sold, used, shared or released personal details, though the governor suggested that Louisianans take steps to protect their identities. Apparently, the Russia-linked extortion gang Clop has told Louisiana officials that it would not exploit any data taken from government agencies and assured it had erased such information. Does anyone believe they can trust the promise of a fraudster?
Anne Neuberger doesn’t. Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber & Emerging Technology is the jargon slayer in this data breach travesty. “This criminal group has started to put the data that they extorted out on the dark web because they’re trying to get companies to pay for it”. Which is what fraudsters like Clop do. They don’t hack for kicks and giggles.
Shoutout to Anne Neuberger for protecting the victims of all cyber fraud.
Today’s Fraud Of The Day is based on article “Every Louisiana driver’s license holder exposed in colossal cyber-attack” published by AXIOS News on June 16, 2023
Personal details for every holder of a driver’s license from the US state of Louisiana were exposed to hackers who have pulled off a colossal cyber-attack that also affected American federal agencies, British Airways and the BBC, according to officials.
A statement on Thursday from the governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, said that his staff believes everyone with a driver’s license, identification card or car registration issued by the state of more than 4.6 million residents probably had their names, addresses and social security numbers exposed to the hackers.
