In this week’s news, we learn about a potentially massive hack of user data at Instacart and another at the University of York. We will also find out more details about last week’s Twitter hack, and understand the important role of technology in business and democracy.

Instacart denies widespread data breach affecting hundreds of thousands of customers
Due to a massive surge in use during the COVID-19 pandemic, Instacart has become more popular than ever. It recently raised $225 million in funding due to the unprecedented demand on grocery delivery as Americans continue to stay at home. Buzzfeed released a report on Wednesday that uncovered a breach in Instacart’s ever-growing customer base, which Instacart denies. According to Buzzfeed’s reporting, names, the last four digits of credit cards, and even recent order history were posted on the dark web for sale. Find out the full story at USA Today.

University of York discloses data breach, staff and student records stolen
Due to a breach at third-party cloud service provider, Blackbaud, personal information of alumni, students, and staff at the University of York has been compromised. The university disclosed that “names, titles, genders, dates of birth, student numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, and LinkedIn profile records may have been taken.” Blackbaud discovered the ransomware breach in May, and although the cybercriminals were discovered and booted from the system, a ransom was, in fact paid. Read the details at ZDNet.

Twitter Breach Highlights Privileged Account Security Issue
Social engineering was the modus operandi for the Twitter hacker. Last week, 130 prominent accounts were hacked, in addition to a number of others that weren’t verified users (less prominent users). The hacker was able to get into these accounts through a handful of Twitter employees using social engineering and then change the passwords to lock the real users out. They then requested BitCoin transactions be sent to a specific address and promised a 100% return on the transaction. Get the latest on what Twitter has disclosed about the breach at InformationWeek’s Dark Reading.

3 Ways Tech Is Changing the Way We Do Business
Technology makes modern business possible across so many industries. Whether it’s a small solopreneur operation, a massive enterprise operation, or something in between, technology helps businesses reach more customers, manage more relationships, maintain better security measures, and set clearer goals. Read about the various tools and strategies that help make this possible at Techiexpert.

Read our last Weekly News Round-up.