Government contractor Conduent confirmed that a recent outage was due to a “cybersecurity incident.”
Conduent serves half of the Fortune 100 and over 600 government and transportation organizations. Customers include nine of the top U.S. health plans, four of the top five global automakers, and many banks and pharmaceutical companies.
Last week, Conduent experienced some problems with its services, affecting its customers in several states in the US.
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This outage caused widespread problems for those who rely on the affected organizations to make payments via electronic transfer or EBT cards.
Conduent worked to resolve the issue, apologizing for the disruption. However, in a new statement it said the "outage" was caused by "a cybersecurity incident.".
“This incident has been contained and all systems have been restored. Maintaining system integrity and functionality is as important to us as it is to our customers,” the company told BleepingComputer.
Conduent did not provide further details about the incident. It is not known how the attackers breached the systems or whether any data was stolen. The company has not yet issued a public statement or filed an 8-K report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
See also: Cloudflare blocked DDoS attack that peaked at 5.6 Tbps
Protection from attacks
To prevent cyberattacks, organizations must implement a multi-layered security approach. This includes regularly updating software and systems to protect against known vulnerabilities, using firewalls and intrusion detection systems to monitor network activity , and ensuring strong encryption protocols for sensitive data.
Employee training is also crucial, as human error often plays a significant role in breaches. By training staff to recognize phishing attempts and adhere to strong password practices , organizations can strengthen their defenses.
See also: Blacon High School: Closed due to ransomware attack
Additionally, conducting regular security audits and developing a comprehensive incident response plan ensures preparedness against potential threats. Organizations should also consider investing in advanced threat detection and response tools, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies , to improve their security posture.
Source: www.bleepingcomputer.com
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