Tag Archive for: Union

American Airlines Pilots Union Hit By Major Ransomware Attack That Took Down Website And Could Have Resulted in Sensitive Data Being Stolen

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The union, which represents more than 15,000 pilots at American Airlines, says it fell victim to a ransomware attack that took down its website and may have allowed hackers to steal the sensitive personal data of its members.

The Allied Pilots Association (APA) says it became aware of the hack attack on October 30 when its servers were taken offline, blocking access to both the union’s public website and secure member-only pages, as well as specific tools built for pilots.

The APA website and its online services are completely separate from American Airlines, and there is no suggestion that the airline’s systems have been compromised.

The attack was so widespread that APA was forced to update its members via social channels because its website was inaccessible and email systems had been taken offline.

In a statement set up on a temporary new website, APA said it was still assessing the full extent of the damage and that cyber security experts were trying to determine whether personal data had been compromised.

The union warned that it may take some time to figure out whether sensitive information has actually been stolen.

“On October 30, we experienced a cybersecurity incident,” the union confirmed on Thursday. “Upon discovery of the incident, we immediately took steps to secure our network.”

“Our IT team, with the support of outside experts, continues to work nonstop to restore our systems. We are pleased to report that our restoration efforts are progressing, and we will soon be able to begin to bring back some of our online services”.

The union said it could take days to restore all of its online services.

A preliminary investigation suggests APA was targeted in a ransomware attack and that the hackers had managed to encrypt certain systems, which has blocked access to the union’s IT team.

“The restoration of those systems has entailed a methodical and time-consuming process for our IT team and outside experts,” the union warned.

Earlier this year, thousands of pilots who had applied for positions at American Airlines and Southwest had their personal details stolen by hackers who…

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A numerical consideration of Times Union Top Workplaces 2023

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2: Rank of Capital Cardiology Associates among the smallest of the Large Companies category (300 or more employees). With 352 staffers, Capital Cardiology is bigger only than the top-rated company, the Center for Internet Security, with 345 employees. The largest is Stewart’s Shops, which has 4,153 staffers.

11.99: Price, in dollars, of a cookie cutter set sold by Death Wish Coffee, with headquarters in Saratoga Springs and production facilities in Round Lake. The two-piece set includes shapes of a coffee mug and the lighting bolt frequently used in Death Wish branding as “the world’s strongest coffee.” Includes recipe for gingerbread cookies.

12: Number of forensic-accounting services offered by Albany-based Teal, Becker & Chiaramonte, CPAs, including fraud-prevention and -detection training and economic-damage analysis.

Top Workplace Albany Community Action Partnership's Energy Services program provides free weatherization improvements to eligible households that can help residents save big on energy bills.

Top Workplace Albany Community Action Partnership’s Energy Services program provides free weatherization improvements to eligible households that can help residents save big on energy bills.

Provided by ACAP

20: Minimum savings, in percent, of utility costs for residences that receive free weatherization improvements through the Albany Community Action Partnership’s Energy Services program.

Schenectady-based Top Workplace Transfinder provides routing, scheduling and other transportation-management services to more than 2,000 school districts and municipalities across 47 states.  

Schenectady-based Top Workplace Transfinder provides routing, scheduling and other transportation-management services to more than 2,000 school districts and municipalities across 47 states.

 

John Carl D’Annibale/Times Union

47: Number of states with a total of more than 2,000 school districts and municipalities using routing, scheduling and other transportation-management services offered by Transfinder of Schenectady.

Live table games are available 142 hours per week at Schenectady's Rivers Casino & Resort, a Top Workplace for 2023.

Live table games are available 142 hours per week at Schenectady’s Rivers Casino & Resort, a Top Workplace for 2023.

James Franco

115: Approximate number of product lines available from Townsend Leather in Johnstown. Each product line has from several to dozens of options for colors and finishes.

142: Hours per week that live table games — representing 11 types including poker varieties, craps, baccarat and roulette — are available at Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady. 

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Oakland Police Union Seeking Damages Suffered in Ransomware Attack on City – NBC Bay Area

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Oakland police officers have filed a claim against the city for damages suffered due to the ransomware attack on the city in February, officials with the police union said Monday.

The claim was filed Thursday by attorneys for the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, which represents more than 700 officers.

The union is asking for monetary compensation as well as credit monitoring services, bank monitoring services, credit restoration services and identity theft insurance.

“Having to file this legal claim is disappointing,” said police union President Barry Donelan in a statement. “Oakland employees trusted the city with their personal and confidential data, and the city failed them by releasing it through a combination of incompetence and negligence.” City officials, including the mayor’s office, said last week that they would meet with the police union following a threat of litigation.

As of Monday, there hasn’t been a meeting, but union officials said they are optimistic a meeting will occur.

A spokesperson for Mayor Sheng Thao on Monday referred a request for comment to City Attorney Barbara Parker’s office.

Parker’s office did not have a comment Monday, saying the office just received the claim and has not had time to review it. The city was closed Friday for Cesar Chavez Day.

The ransomware attackers released private, personal information of police officers, Donelan said. Reportedly, other employees’ private information was released, too.

The attack started Feb. 8. The attackers crippled the city’s information technology systems and demanded ransom to free the systems.

Attorneys for the police union said the city was repeatedly warned in the past and recently of “significant deficiencies in the security of its information technology systems,” according to the claim filed Thursday.

The claim was filed by the police union’s attorneys Rains, Lucia, Stern, St. Phalle and Silver and is a precondition for filing a lawsuit against the city, attorney Rockne Lucia Jr. said.

“We are currently evaluating all of our options and will make a determination on how to protect the interests of the members of the OPOA in the next few weeks,” Lucia said by email….

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Transport Workers’ Union will call an emergency safety summit in the wake of attack on female bus driver

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The Transport Workers’ Union will call an emergency safety summit in the wake of a violent attack on a female bus driver in which she was allegedly spat on, kicked and punched by a 13-year-old boy and an older accomplice.

The woman was driving the route between Elizabeth Quay and Curtin University when she pulled into the Victoria Park station about 7.15pm on Thursday and was set upon in an assault TWU WA branch secretary Tim Dawson said was “hard to put into words”.

According to police, a 13-year-old boy who had boarded the bus with a disorderly group of people spat on the bus driver before stealing her phone.

It is alleged the same boy then kicked the victim, before a 32-year-old woman punched her in the face.

The brutal alleged attack came just two days after Edward Charles Abbott pleaded guilty to attacking a 66-year-old TransWA bus driver in Geraldton.

When Abbott was denied a seat on the bus, he struck the bus driver multiple times to the head, causing him to lose his front teeth, and leaving him with cutting and bruising to his mouth and face. He will be sentenced next month.

In a statement on Sunday, the TWU said it was time to call time on the “safety crisis” on WA buses, saying the union has had enough of State Government “inaction on anti-social behaviour and bus driver attacks”.

Mr Dawson has called on bus operators to release union delegates and health and safety representatives from work next Wednesday so they could attend the urgent safety summit.

He said the union had long been calling for an increase to security measures for bus drivers, including bringing security services in-house rather than contracting it out.