Ransomware gangs increasingly use their own or stolen computer code, moving away from a ransomware-as-a-service model that made their activities easier to monitor, new research shows.

A criminal syndicate has set a Monday deadline for the Los Angeles public school system to pay a ransom or have its data released on the dark web, which could potentially expose the confidential information of students and employees.

The hackers who targeted the Los Angeles Unified School District have made a ransom demand, officials confirmed Tuesday, indicating that the attackers have extracted sensitive data or believe they can bluff the district into thinking that they have.

The report indicated that district staff agreed with its findings and committed to addressing them, but district officials did not clarify Wednesday which of the recommended actions were carried out.

The State Bar of California is investigating a breach after learning that a website published confidential information about 260,000 attorney discipline cases in California and other jurisdictions.

Planned Parenthood Los Angeles said in a statement that there's no evidence so far that any patient data was used for fraudulent purposes, and it was notifying patients whose information was accessed.

Researchers discovered almost 28,000 web pages created by hackers for personalized “spear phishing” attacks designed to steal passwords, according to a report published on Tuesday by Citizen Lab.