Destinee Patterson

4 weeks ago | wral.com | Destinee Patterson

In just three months, $20,000 worth of merchandise was stolen from a Holly Springs Ulta Beauty Store, according to arrest warrants WRAL obtained. Four people were arrested in connection to the retail theft ring, according to court documents. “These organized retail crime groups realize that it's fast money that they can get,” said Andy Ellen, president and general counsel with the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association.

4 weeks ago | wral.com | Destinee Patterson |Emily Walkenhorst

A cybersecurity expert warns that hackers could continue to try to extort people for money related to the breach of millions of students' and teachers' data earlier this school year. On Wednesday, state school leaders and employees from at least 20 North Carolina school systems began receiving emails attempting to extort them — a payment in cryptocurrency in exchange for keeping their data secret. They're mentioning the same data that was breached in December.

1 month ago | wral.com | Emily Walkenhorst |Destinee Patterson

A December data breach exposed the records of millions of North Carolina students and teachers who had used the PowerSchool statewide information system at one point. California-based PowerSchool said the breach, which affected schools across the world, is “contained” and that they don’t expect any release of the data. According to North Carolina officials, the company told customers that they paid the hacker a ransom and watched the hacker delete the data via video.

1 month ago | wral.com | Emily Walkenhorst |Destinee Patterson |Jack Hagel

After a hacker accessed the digital records of students worldwide, including perhaps millions in North Carolina, the company that was breached — PowerSchool — began assuring families that the exposed data was no longer at risk of ending up in the hands of other bad actors. What the company told schools in private, however, was that the assurance came from the hacker — and only after the hacker told the company about the breach, according to state school officials.

1 month ago | wral.com | Destinee Patterson

Raleigh police surrounded a north Raleigh home while trying to serve a warrant on Friday in an hours-long standoff situation. Officers responded to a home on All Points View Way to serve a warrant for Jeffrey Lynch for felony stalking and violating a domestic violence protection order. Numerous police vehicles were seen in the Falls River neighborhood around 10 a.m. Just before 1 p.m., law enforcement brought Lynch out of the home and placed him into a police vehicle.