EAGLE SCOUT | ISSUE NO. 21-20

NEWS | Missouri Teachers' Social Security Numbers Exposed
14 Oct 2021

UNITED STATES – Flaws on the website being maintained by Missouri state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education rendered the Social Security Numbers of school teachers, administrators, and counselors vulnerable to misuse due to public exposure. The newspaper, Post-Dispatch, discovered the weakness in a web-application where teachers’ certifications and credentials are searchable by the public. READ HERE
 

NEWS | University hit by a suspected cyber-attack
13 Oct 2021

UNITED KINGDOM – The University of Sunderland in the UK said that it experienced a possible cyber-attack. This came after the school encountered IT problems wherein its systems, website, and telephone lines all went down—often a sign of a cyber-attack. Online classes were cancelled, as employees found it difficult to access their email accounts. READ HERE     
 

NEWS | No prosecution yet on Chico State data leak
6 Oct 2021

UNITED STATES – Chico State has released a statement regarding who was responsible for the data leak that involved lists of its unvaccinated students, including the ground they had relied on: religious exemption. Apparently, an employee had used his access credentials to expose and publish the confidential information. READ HERE
 

NEWS | NPC checking reports of smishing in contact tracing forms
6 Oct 2021

PHILIPPINES – The National Privacy Commission (NPC) is looking at reports that impostors are using information gathered via contact tracing forms in order to target people via “smishing”—a variation of phishing wherein mobile phone users are tricked into sharing private information on suspicious websites. READ HERE    

NEWS | Regular security check ensures PhilSys data privacy
2 Oct 2021

PHILIPPINES – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has assured the public that it is implementing strict data privacy and security measures in order to protect the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).  Among others, it regularly subjects the system to a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) in line with guidelines set by the National Privacy Commission.  READ HERE