Privacy law scholar Daniel Solove writes: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit just issued a blistering attack on HIPAA enforcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer v. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 19-60226, Jan. 14, 2001), the 5th Circuit struck down a fine…
Author: Dissent
Interview With a Russian Cybercriminal
Kelly Sheridan reports: IT security practitioners spend a lot of time strategizing ransomware defense, but many know little about the criminals plotting attacks. Who is the person behind a devastating ransomware campaign? Why did they choose a specific target? What about cybercrime appeals to them? To better understand the attacker’s perspective, Cisco Talos researchers interviewed…
Hackers try to contaminate Florida town’s water supply through computer breach
This is the stuff nightmares are made of. Chris Bing reports: Hackers broke into the computer system of a facility that treats water for about 15,000 people near Tampa, Florida and sought to add a dangerous level of additive to the water supply, the Pinellas County Sheriff said on Monday. The attempt on Friday was…
Ransomware attack targets Ness IT company in Israel, US, India – report
Tzvi Joffre reports: A ransomware cyberattack has targeted the Ness Digital Engineering company which operates in Israel, the US and India, according to cybersecurity consultant Einat Meyron. The details of the cyberattack remain unclear, but initial reports indicate that the attack may have begun in Israel and then spread to other Ness branches around the world. […]…
Somerset ISD in Texas allegedly hit with ransomware — but were they?
Threat actors claim to have successfully attacked Somerset ISD in Texas with ransomware. But did they? Were functions interrupted at all by files being encrypted? Were phones, email, or internet knocked out at all? DataBreaches.net has seen no local news reports of any of that, and there does not appear to be any notice or…
Taiwan Mobile operator’s security breach hits headlines
Arthur Shay of Shay & Shay writes: On 15 January 2021 the National Communications Commission (NCC) issued an official order of recall against Taiwan Mobile, one of the country’s top three mobile operators. The order concerned Taiwan Mobile’s self-branded smartphone (the Amazing A32), which had been supplied by a Chinese company and was sold to…