Increased device mobility and complexity “are leaving schools increasingly vulnerable to security risks and potential attacks,” reported Absolute Software Tuesday. The cybersecurity company analyzed “anonymized” data from more than 10,000 schools, finding the total number of devices deployed increased 74% from 2019 to 2020, it said. “The disruption caused by digital learning -- and the flurry of new technologies needed to support it -- opened up new potential attack vectors for cybercriminals, it said, citing FBI statistics showing 57% of all reported ransomware attacks in August and September 2020 targeted K-12 schools. Absolute found that nearly half (47%) of K-12 devices in spring 2021 were located more than 25 miles from their school or district, compared with 27% a year earlier. Students and faculty spent 60% of their time online actively using officially sanctioned educational resources so far in 2021, but 21% of online activity takes place “outside established and approved education sites,” it said.

The volume of first-half 2021 phishing attacks jumped 22% from a year earlier, but phishing volume in June “dipped dramatically” for the first time in six months, immediately after a very high volume in May, reported PhishLabs Tuesday. Bad actors are using phishing “to fleece proprietary information” in increasingly more sophisticated attacks, “based on growth in areas such as cryptocurrency and sites that use single-sign-on,” said Chief Technology Officer John LaCour. Of the significant decline in bad behavior from May to June, “we’ll continue to monitor through the summer and analyze if we’re seeing a trend in the right direction, or if attackers simply took a summer vacation.”

Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen hadn't heard from T-Mobile about any data breach, he told the Technology Policy Institute Monday. At around that same time, T-Mobile said it's investigating such claims and suggested a hack may have occurred. “We take the protection of our customers very seriously and we are conducting an extensive analysis alongside digital forensic experts to understand the validity of these claims, and we are coordinating with law enforcement,” the carrier emailed. “We have determined that unauthorized access to some T-Mobile data occurred, however we have not yet determined that there is any personal customer data involved. We are confident that the entry point used to gain access has been closed.” T-Mobile didn't immediately say if it subsequently communicated with Dish, which has prepaid wireless customers divested as part of T-Mobile's buying Sprint on the T-Mobile network. Speaking in Aspen, Colorado, Ergen noted there are about 9 million such customers. In general, such hacks “are too common” an occurrence, he said. Telecom networks are “particularly susceptible” to intrusions, Ergen said. “It's why the government is properly looking at Chinese vendors.” With Dish's wireless network construction, it's “trying to build [security] in on the front end,” Ergen said. “To the extent” a data break-in took place, he said, “we’ll have to deal with it.” Ergen also hopes to settle a 3G network phaseout issue with T-Mobile, he told TPI (see 2108160057). “The key is to work together” with government on cybersecurity, Ergen said. “We’ve asked for it. We’re open to help.” He likes “the partnership with government when it comes to security. We’re open to it, and we’re happy to share what we’re doing.”

ATIS announced the launch of a “User-Controlled Privacy Initiative,” to adopt and advance solutions to help industry establish a self-sovereign identity (SSI). “Combining this SSI along with verifiable credential proofs of information greatly enhances individuals' control and rights over their personal data,” ATIS said Thursday. “SSI can address personal data in a way that fosters greater trust between consumers and businesses, while also helping companies comply with new privacy regulations,” said ATIS President Susan Miller. ATIS is looking for member companies to participate.

More than a third of organizations globally experienced a ransomware attack or breach that blocked access to systems or data in the past 12 months, and for those that fell victim, it was "not uncommon to have experienced multiple ransomware events,” reported IDC Thursday. Ransomware is now the “enemy of the day” and the “topic of conversation on Main Street," said analyst Frank Dickson. Ransomware threats have “evolved in sophistication” by actively “evading detection” and “leveraging multifaceted extortion,” he said. IDC analyzed ransomware attacks for the past year, finding the “incident rate” was lower for U.S.-based companies (7%) than the global worldwide rate (37%). The manufacturing and finance industries took the biggest ransomware hits, transportation, communications and media the fewest, it said. Only 13% of organizations experienced a ransomware attack without having to pay a ransom. Average ransom payments approached $250,000, but a few payments exceeding $1 million “skewed the average,” it said.

McAfee’s closing on the sale of its enterprise business to Symphony Technology Group for $4 billion cash on July 27 began McAfee’s “journey” as a “pure-play consumer cybersecurity company,” said CEO Peter Leav on an earnings call Tuesday for fiscal Q2 ended June 26. McAfee added 556,000 “net new core” direct-to-consumer subscribers, closing the quarter with 19.4 million subs, compared with 16.6 million in Q2 a year earlier. “It's very clear that the behavior for consumers is forever changing,” said Leav. “We've seen that again and again in the digitization of all of our lives, and that's not a one-off,” he said. There’s also “a greater degree of focus from those who are trying to exploit that,” he said. “It's unfortunate, but the world of cyber-criminal behavior continues to expand as well.”

The Biden administration "stands ready" to enable Cubans to have “safe and secure access to the free flow of information on the Internet,” it announced Wednesday. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the state's Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez (R) and other Republicans urged President Joe Biden to enable U.S. businesses to provide internet service to Cubans (see 2107160065). Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a joint fact sheet Wednesday detailing the actions. OFAC and BIS “stand ready to engage” with stakeholders to provide “guidance and respond to applications for specific licenses” under relevant regulations which help support Cuban internet access, said the fact sheet. It encourages interested parties to take advantage of general license exemptions for software and services for Cuban internet users and BIS license exemptions for the export and re-export of commodities, software and technology. The Senate’s 50-49 approval Wednesday of Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, the blueprint for a coming $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation measure (see 2108100062), followed voice passage Tuesday of an amendment from Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; and Rick Scott, R-Fla., aimed at pressing Biden administration facilitation of internet access to Cuba. The nonbinding Rubio-led amendment would create a Deficit Neutral Reserve Fund in the next reconciliation bill that would be used to develop and deploy tech to facilitate internet access to Cuba. Senators frequently propose DNRFs amid a budget reconciliation process to make a statement about myriad issues. “My colleagues sent a clear, bipartisan message that the United States is committed to getting uncensored and unrestricted internet access to the people of Cuba,” Rubio said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee should hold a hearing on an antitrust bill scheduled for Thursday markup, the Computer & Communications Industry Association wrote Tuesday. The committee held over S-1787, the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act (see 2106240071), from its last markup. “Antitrust litigation often involves multiple states which, absent the possibility to centralize under one venue, would risk having balkanized antitrust judgments with multiple and divergent outcomes on the same facts,” CCIA said.

Microsoft agreed to produce documents from 18 current and former employees that are potentially relevant to DOJ’s antitrust case against Google, the companies said in a joint status report filed (in Pacer) Friday in docket 1:20-cv-03010 (see 2107300035). Google, in a July 27 subpoena, accused Microsoft of stalling in producing relevant documents. They concern Microsoft’s search engine Bing and competition with Google. At the direction of the court, Microsoft filed a joint status report with Google, saying it will include documents from 18 “additional custodians,” in addition to the 27 it previously reported. The two sides agreed to address any further disputes in filings by Aug. 27 and at an Aug. 31 conference.

Comscore will provide de-duplicated connected TV measurement for YouTube and YouTube TV in its Comscore Campaign Ratings cross-platform service, it said Monday. The arrangement allows advertisers to measure their video investments across all screens, for an "accurate view" of how audiences are consuming content on YouTube and YouTube TV across desktop, mobile and connected TV, it said. "People are choosing to watch their favorite YouTube content on connected TVs with others, and the inclusion of co-viewing in this new integration will allow advertisers to understand the full scale of the audience they're able to reach through YouTube" connected TV campaigns, said Debbie Weinstein, YouTube vice president-global solutions.