Iowa’s largest school district confirms ransomware attack, data theft

Des Moines Public Schools, Iowa’s largest school district, confirmed today that a ransomware attack was behind an incident that forced it to take all networked systems offline on January 9, 2023.

While the school district also received a ransom demand following the attack from an unnamed ransomware group, the ransom has not been paid.

Almost 6,700 individuals whose data was affected in the resulting data breach will be contacted this week with details regarding what personal information was exposed.

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China’s exports tumble in May as global demand falters

China’s exports shrank much faster than expected in May while imports extended declines with a grim outlook for global demand, especially from developed markets, raising doubts about the fragile economic recovery.

The world’s second-largest economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter thanks to robust services consumption and a backlog of orders following years of COVID disruptions, but factory output has slowed as rising interest rates and inflation squeeze demand in the United States and Europe.

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U.S. and International Partners Release Advisory Warning of PRC State-Sponsored Cyber Activity

WASHINGTON – The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), the Communications Security Establishment’s Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS), the New Zealand National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NZ), and the United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK) are publishing a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory today that shares technical details regarding malicious activity by a People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber actor. 

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China Bans U.S. Chip Giant Micron, Citing “Serious Cybersecurity Problems”

China has banned U.S. chip maker Micron from selling its products to Chinese companies working on key infrastructure projects, citing national security risks. The development comes nearly two months after the country’s cybersecurity authority initiated a probe in late March 2023 to assess potential network security risks. “The purpose of this network security review of Micron’s products is to prevent product network security problems from endangering the security of national critical information infrastructure, which is a necessary measure to maintain national security,” the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said.

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Food distribution giant Sysco warns of data breach after cyberattack

Sysco, a leading global food distribution company, has confirmed that its network was breached earlier this year by attackers who stole sensitive information, including business, customer, and employee data. In an internal memo sent to employees on May 3rd and seen by BleepingComputer, the company revealed that customer and supplier data in the U.S. and Canada, as well as personal information belonging to U.S. employees, may have been impacted in the incident.

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Supply Chain to Dominate House Panel Hearing May 10

Again and again, Washington’s transportation intelligentsia reminds the country of the supply chain’s vital role. Transporting freight, from ports to the consumer, entails serious planning complemented by precision and intention. Logistics firms as well as many commercial transportation stakeholders continue their round-the-clock operations to, simply put, keep everything moving.

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A Battery Breakthrough That Could Solve A Major Problem For The West

Chemical engineering professor Dr. Jodie Lutkenhaus and chemistry assistant professor Dr. Daniel Tabor have published their findings about lithium-free batteries in Nature Materials. Water based or aqueous batteries are different from lithium-ion batteries that contain cobalt. The group’s goal of researching metal-free batteries stems from having better control over the domestic supply chain since cobalt and lithium are only outsourced internationally. This safer chemistry would also prevent battery fires.

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