Kansas Water Cyberattack, Moneygram Halts Operations, Telegram Shares Data

Threat actors and their tactics are getting sophisticated-one attack at a time. In such times, only staying aware of cybercrimes can safeguard your precious data and hard-earned money. This is the 4th edition for the month of September, and we are back with cyber news from around the globe. Keeping yourself updated about the latest attacks and motives will help you stay ahead of the threat actors.

To fortify your defenses against sophisticated cyber threats, implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC can significantly enhance your email security and protect your valuable data from being compromised.

So, let’s not waste any more time and get started with today’s edition!

Kansas water treatment plan faces cyberattack!

Threat actors are now gradually shifting their focus to crucial infrastructure such as water, health, finance, etc., to disrupt everyday operations and create a sense of chaos and confusion among common men. 

This time, the target is Arkansas City, a small town in the USA with around 12,000 people. The city is located at the juncture of Arkansas and Walnut Rivers. The town gets its water supply from the Arkansas River. 

The Environmental Services Administration put out a notice revealing that the water treatment facility was attacked by threat actors on Monday, September 22. Relevant authorities have already jumped into action. As a part of precautionary moves, the entire water treatment facility has gone offline. It will be run manually until further notice. City manager Randy Frazer believes that this step is taken ‘out of caution’ and will keep things safe and secure until the culprits get arrested.

Despite the malicious attack, the Kansas water treatment plant has managed to maintain a regular water supply to the residents. The administration has ensured a normal and safe water supply and urged the residents to stay calm and composed. It has also notified about the joint efforts of government and cybersecurity experts who are trying to nab the culprits and bring back the water treatment facility online. 

Cyber experts believe that shifting the entire facility to manual mode indicates the gravity of the attack.  

MoneyGram unplugs because of a cybersecurity issue!

It has been 6 days since MoneyGram has gone offline. The money transfer giant has suspended its services temporarily because of a cybersecurity issue. As of now, there is no clarity as to when MoneyGram will start functioning online.

Both MoneyGram’s in-person and online payment systems have been suspended since last Friday. On Saturday, MoneyGram posted about a network outage on the X platform, stating its inability to connect and operate. MoneyGram has been trying to ‘understand the nature and scope of the issue.’ The post also informed about MoneyGram’s thorough investigation of this cybersecurity issue. The money-wiring company is working closely with law enforcement teams and cybersecurity experts. 

The abrupt suspension of MoneyGram services and the post hint towards a plausible data breach. However, MoneyGram has been tight-lipped about the same and has provided no official confirmation as of now.

Being a money transfer company, MoneyGram is a treasure trove of data for threat actors. It has a vast data collection system, which includes the personal details of the users such as usernames, addresses, passwords, names, and so on. 

Telegram is all set to share user data with law enforcement teams!

Telegram, the encrypted messaging service provider, has finally stated that it will share user details with authorities as per their request. User details such as phone number, IP address, user names etc. will be handed over to law enforcement teams. The idea is to bring a full stop to criminal activities that take place because of unregulated message exchange on social media. Telegram has updated its privacy policy accordingly.

The privacy policy clearly mentions that in case a user is found guilty or involved in any kind of criminal activity and relevant authorities request user data, then Telegram will verify the legality of that request. If the request is valid, then Telegram will share details such as phone number and IP address with law enforcement teams.

The policy changes came as a result of the recent detention of Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, at the French airport. He was held responsible for any kind of misbehavior by Telegram users.

On Monday, Pavel shared a Telegram post where he mentioned that this policy change is a must for those 0.001% of Telegram users who are involved in any kind of illegal activity. He was charged with allowing criminal activities to take place on the messaging app. The allegations also include Durov’s alleged involvement in activities like drug trafficking and sharing child abuse pictures. Durov called out the French authorities for these ‘misguided’ and ‘surprising’ charges.

Experts believe that Telegram is currently a breeding ground for criminal activities as the app allows its groups to have as many as 200,000 members. Recently, Ukraine also banned the use of this Russian messaging app.