After multiple attacks against the technology giant in March, Acer has again fallen victim to a string of cyberattacks. Acer India and Acer Taiwan were both breached, leaving customers and employees at risk. In other cybersecurity news, the hacker responsible for the 2014 attack against the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

Multiple Acer locations suffer cyberattacks in same week

Following a ransomware attack and $50 million ransom demand this past March, the company has again been struck by a string of cyberattacks. Early last week, the systems at Acer India were breached and a significant amount of data was stolen. Less than a week later, the company’s Taiwan location also fell victim to a cyberattack that again saw employee and product information stolen, though no additional ransom payment was requested. The group responsible claims that they only perpetrated the Taiwan breach to prove the point that Acer neglected their cybersecurity responsibilities, leaving employees and customers at risk.

Phishing attack compromises dental organization

A phishing attack compromised the North American Dental Management’s computer systems and may have exposed extremely sensitive information on thousands of dental patients between March 31 and April 1 of this year. Fortunately, the organization was able to quickly secure the compromised email server and has already offered credit and identity monitoring for two full years to over 125,000 affected patients.

Atento’s largest operation taken offline by cyberattack

A cyberattack forced the Brazilian location of Atento to take many of their crucial systems offline in an effort to properly contain it and protect sensitive data. As the company’s largest location with over 150,000 employees that also services Atento’s largest customer base, the goal of attack was to illicitly obtain massive quantities of sensitive information. Brazilian companies have been hit hard in recent years by similar attacks with the number likely to rise as most companies invest little towards cybersecurity.

Hacker behind medical center breach finally sentenced

The hacker responsible for the breach of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in 2014 was sentenced to 7 years in prison for compromising the personally identifiable information (PII) of over 65,000 employees. After the attack, the hacker sold the obtained data on a dark web forum, including W-2's, social security numbers and salary information. The attack, which compromised a human resources management database, allowed criminals to cash in over $1.7 million in fraudulent tax returns.

Ransomware cripples Sinclair Broadcast Group

The Sinclair Broadcast Group suffered a ransomware attack that may have stolen sensitive data from its network and encrypted other systems. It is unclear how much information was uploaded from their network and how long it will take for the broadcaster to return to normal functionality, as employees are still not able to access authenticated portions of the network.