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News Story

MC2 Director Katz Featured in Hearst News Story on Russian Hackers

Published August 13, 2014

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Jonathan Katz

Jonathan Katz, professor of computer science and director of the Maryland Cybersecurity Center, was recently interviewed in a Hearst news story about a gang of Russian cyber thieves who hacked into more than 400,000 websites, amassing more than a billion user names and passwords.

According to a cybersecurity firm, it may be the largest known data breach to date.

"...what criminals seem to be doing is using these credentials to log into social media sites and impersonate users and then send spam from their accounts."

Jonathan Katz

“Right now what criminals seem to be doing is using these credentials to log into social media sites and impersonate users and then send spam from their accounts,” Katz says.

He notes that it is a “wake-up call” to industries and users on how insecure passwords and personal information can be.

Watch the news story on wpbf.