Cybersecurity

Microsoft users around the world reported being suddenly knocked offline after cybersecurity company CrowdStrike's routine software update malfunctioned.

With IT systems down, staff at Ascension have to use manual processes they left behind some 20 years ago. It's the latest in a string of attacks on health care systems that house private patient data.

The St. Louis County Council on Tuesday approved $5 million for cybersecurity improvements and advanced a bill that would freeze property taxes for seniors.

HSHS hospitals, including O'Fallon's St. Elizabeth's, are restoring power after a cyber attack caused outages for weeks. Such attacks are becoming more common as health systems rely more on interconnected servers, experts say.

Per Scholas, a technology training nonprofit that is bringing its courses to St. Louis, will offer free training at the Cortex Innovation Community for people of color and women interested in cybersecurity jobs.

The codes allow businesses to digitize menus or direct customers to payment sites, but scammers have used them to get personal information from people.

The federal government is offering grant money to help address the problem, but small towns fear they lack the tech knowhow and resources to defend their systems and are daunted by grant applications.

About 13,000 people were victims of government impersonation scams in the U.S. last year, at a cost of almost $110 million.

After personal information for thousands of educators in Missouri was shown to be vulnerable due to a website flaw, a Washington University professor sees this as an opportunity for the state to reevaluate its cybersecurity practices.

University of Missouri-St. Louis professor Shaji Khan helped the St. Louis Post-Dispatch report data breach on state system.