The Pentagon (US department of Defense) released a warning that a third party travel management vendor experienced a data breach that can potentially expose 30,000 military and civilian personnel. According to the DoD, those affected by the cyber attack were notified that their personally identifiable information and payment card information could be compromised and that they are offering victims prepaid identity theft monitoring services.
The General Accountability Office (GAO) didn’t seem too surprised of the attack as cybersecurity tends to be an afterthought to US weapon developers. In fact, according to the GAO, the penetration tested conducted displayed that the weapons can be subverted. “Using relatively simple tools and techniques, testers were able to take control of systems and largely operate undetected, due in part to basic issues such as poor password management and unencrypted communications” GAO says.
Government agencies, municipalities, and healthcare organizations typically get targeted the most due to outdated systems, unaware employees, and lack of cyber security tools being in place. In the eyes of a cybercriminal, these victims are low hanging fruit and a potentially lucrative payday.
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