--- title: "Cyber Security News Update, Week 15 of 2020 | DuoCircle" description: "When a healthcare organization tells me they suffered a data breach, I tend to believe them." image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png" canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/announcements/cyber-security-news-update-week-15-of-2020/" --- Quick Answer Week 15 of 2020 covered: a combined data breach and ransomware attack at Affordable Urgent Care Clinics in Texas, where leaked documents contradicted the company's claim that SSNs were unaffected; a surge in COVID-19 phishing against healthcare, with at least 100,000 newly registered domains containing 'covid,' 'corona,' or 'virus' over the prior month; an Emirates Airlines warning about phishing emails offering refunds for flights cancelled when passenger service was suspended on March 25; a KnowBe4 report on vishing-then-phishing layered campaigns that begin with phone calls; an Excel password-protection bypass that lets malicious documents slip past spreadsheet 'encryption'; a Marriott International breach affecting 5.2 million guests via a compromised hotel-services application, exposing names, addresses, emails, phone numbers, loyalty data, employers, gender, partial birthdays, and airline loyalty info; a leak of personal data on 4.9 million citizens of Georgia (the country) posted as a 1.04 GB Microsoft Access file; and a phishing-driven GoDaddy compromise that briefly defaced the Escrow.com homepage. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fannouncements%2Fcyber-security-news-update-week-15-of-2020%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Cyber%20Security%20News%20Update%2C%20Week%2015%20of%202020&url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fannouncements%2Fcyber-security-news-update-week-15-of-2020%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=undefined%2Fblog%2Fannouncements%2Fcyber-security-news-update-week-15-of-2020%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fannouncements%2Fcyber-security-news-update-week-15-of-2020%2F&title=Cyber%20Security%20News%20Update%2C%20Week%2015%20of%202020 "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Cyber%20Security%20News%20Update%2C%20Week%2015%20of%202020&body=Check out this article: undefined%2Fblog%2Fannouncements%2Fcyber-security-news-update-week-15-of-2020%2F "Share via Email") ![Cyber Security](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/04/smtp-service-6718.jpg) _When a healthcare organization tells me they suffered a data breach, I tend to believe them_. When they tell me social security numbers were unaffected, I have to look a little deeper. Such is the case with the network of Affordable Urgent Care Clinics based in Texas. An [article](https://www.scmagazine.com/home/security-news/cybercrime/med-groups-breach-disclosure-claims-ssns-unaffected-leaked-docs-suggest-otherwise/) online “_officially confirmed a combination data breach-ransomware attack that exposed sensitive information_. The company is claiming that social security numbers were not impacted in the incident, despite security experts having demonstrated that the attackers have published **stolen documents** containing patients’ and employees’ SSNs.” Things that make you go hmmmm. ## Phishing Attacks on Healthcare [![Security Week](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/04/what-is-dkim-selector-6829.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/04/what-is-dkim-selector-6829.jpg) _Despite hackers saying they were going to take it easy on healthcare organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic_, “A deluge of attacks has included **phishing emails** purported to be from health agencies, counterfeit product offers and bogus charity donation requests, according to security analysts,” from [Security Week](https://www.securityweek.com/hacker-ceasefire-gets-little-traction-pandemic-fuels-attacks). “Over the past month, at least **100,000 new web domain** names were registered containing terms like covid, corona, and virus, many of which are considered ‘malicious,’ according to a report prepared for the global internet registry agency ICANN.” That’s what they consider taking it easy? ## Airline Phishing Scams No, the airline is not contacting you to refund your airline ticket. That’s a scam, according to [Your Mileage May Vary](https://yourmileagemayvary.net/2020/04/03/airline-warns-of-phishing-scam-for-coronavirus-related-refunds/). “Emirates Airlines, Dubai’s flagship airline, has recently warned its customers about such emails. To prevent the spread of coronavirus, the airline temporarily suspended all passenger service on March 25.” That’s all the scammers need to launch an attack. ## Phishing Phrontier _Can a phishing scam begin with a phone call?_ Apparently, the answer is “Yes.” According to a threat analyst at [KnowBe4](https://blog.knowbe4.com/new-potential-phishing-scam-begins-with-a-phone-call), “A recent suspicious phone call was brought to our attention. It looks to be the beginning of a **phishing campaign** and demonstrates the lengths cybercriminals will go to in order to ensure success.” For the uninitiated, this type of thing is called _vishing_. “_The idea of vishing before phishing isn’t out of the realm of possibility_; the use of social engineering takes all forms. And a **layered attack strategy** likely has a better chance of succeeding than simply sending, in this case, an unsolicited email from a known vendor, which, in the case of IT pros specifically, would probably have a very low success rate.” ## Spreadsheet Breach _Ever use a password to protect your Excel spreadsheets? You could be the victim of a sophisticated new attack_. According to [SC Magazine](https://www.scmagazine.com/home/email-security/upgraded-malicious-word-excel-attachments-targeting-wfh-employees/), “threat actors are taking advantage of an existing Excel security measure that enables a spreadsheet to be password protected, essentially **encrypted**, requiring the recipient to have the password. Unfortunately, there is a flaw in the Excel system that can bypass the need for a password to be input that can let a malicious document slip in.” _So, something used to make things safe actually makes things less safe. Thanks Microsoft._ ## Body Count Stay at Marriott? You may have had your information stolen. According to [SC Magazine](//www.scmagazine.com/home/security-news/data-breach/new-marriott-data-breach-impacts-5-2-million-guests/), “_Marriott International on Tuesday disclosed another major data breach_, this one **affecting 5.2 million** of its guests.” That’s a million with an “m”. “According to the Bethesda, Md.-based hospitality giant, _the source of the breach was an application that its hotels use to provide guests with various services_. Affected information includes guests’ names, mailing addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, loyalty account numbers and point balances, employers, genders, birthdays (day and month only), airline loyalty program information, and hotel preferences such as room and language selections.” ## Georgia Citizen Data Breach Live in Georgia (the country not the state)? _You may have had your information stolen_. From SC Magazine, “A member of a hacking forum has reportedly posted data corresponding to over **4.9 million of citizens** from the country of Georgia, both living and dead.” The dead? That’s cold. “_**The leaked dataset was made available via a 1.04 GB Microsoft Access database file**_, according to a [report from ZDNet](https://www.zdnet.com/article/personal-details-for-the-entire-country-of-georgia-published-online/), which was alerted to the dump by breach monitoring and [phishing prevention service](/email/phishing-protection) Under the Breach. Compromised information includes names, home addresses, birth dates, ID numbers and mobile phone numbers.” ## Escrow Data Breach [![email security service](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/04/Office-365-migration-6248.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/04/Office-365-migration-6248.jpg) Well [that’s](https://www.techradar.com/news/godaddy-suffers-embarrassing-phishing-attack) embarrassing. An employee at GoDaddy, one of the largest web hosting companies, _was successfully phished due to lack of a proper [email security service](/), which led to unauthorized access to one of its most high-profile customers, escrow.com_. “Escrow.com is one of the US’ leading broking websites, enabling thousands of customers to make secure transactions online, however _the hackers were able to change its homepage to a profanity-laden message_. Matt Barrie, the CEO of freelancer.com, which owns escrow.com, confirmed that none of its systems were compromised, and no customer data, funds or domains were breached or accessed.” I wonder who’s more embarrassed, GoDaddy or Escrow. And that’s the week that was. ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg) Brad Slavin General Manager General Manager at DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across the email security portfolio. ## Secure your email infrastructure Protect, authenticate, and deliver. Contact our team to find the right solution. [Contact Sales](/contact/) [Explore Products](/products/) Share this article [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fannouncements%2Fcyber-security-news-update-week-15-of-2020%2F) [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Cyber%20Security%20News%20Update%2C%20Week%2015%20of%202020&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fannouncements%2Fcyber-security-news-update-week-15-of-2020%2F) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fannouncements%2Fcyber-security-news-update-week-15-of-2020%2F) Copy Related Articles - [ ![spam](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2021/07/sender-policy-framework-7535.jpg) Alert: Fix SPF & DKIM Settings For Your Email Forwarding Set Up Through Microsoft o365 SMTP Server Or Your Emails May End Up In Spam News ](/blog/announcements/alert-fix-spf-dkim-settings-for-your-email-forwarding-set-up-through-microsoft-o365-smtp-server-or-your-emails-may-end-up-in-spam/) - [ ![Spam](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2016/05/spf-permerror-3256.jpg) April Spam Filtering Uptime Report News ](/blog/announcements/april-spam-filtering-uptime-report/) - [ ![Spam Filtering](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2023/02/spf-record-tester-7226.jpg) Changes to Spam Filtering Technology News ](/blog/announcements/changes-to-spam-filtering-technology/) - [ ![Cyber Security](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/01/spf-permerror-7312.jpg) Cyber Security News Update, Week 1 of 2020 News ](/blog/announcements/cyber-security-news-update-week-1-of-2020/) ## Related Articles [ News 3m Alert: Fix SPF & DKIM Settings For Your Email Forwarding Set Up Through Microsoft o365 SMTP Server Or Your Emails May End Up In Spam Jul 20, 2021 ](/blog/announcements/alert-fix-spf-dkim-settings-for-your-email-forwarding-set-up-through-microsoft-o365-smtp-server-or-your-emails-may-end-up-in-spam/)[ News 1m April Spam Filtering Uptime Report May 4, 2016 ](/blog/announcements/april-spam-filtering-uptime-report/)[ News 2m Changes to Spam Filtering Technology Feb 8, 2023 ](/blog/announcements/changes-to-spam-filtering-technology/)[ News 4m Cyber Security News Update, Week 1 of 2020 Jan 3, 2020 ](/blog/announcements/cyber-security-news-update-week-1-of-2020/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. 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