Amanda Audi reports: Federal government agencies were convicted for leaking data of beneficiaries of Auxilio Brasil, a flagship federal aid program now renamed as Bolsa Familia, to financial agencies offering payroll deduction loans to low-income Brazilians. Prior to elections last year, the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro launched a program allowing people enrolled in…
Author: Dissent
HHS Office for Civil Rights Settles with L.A. Care Health Plan Over Potential HIPAA Security Rule Violations
LA Care, the largest publicly operated health plan in the country paid $1,300,000 to settle Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement of potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules with LA Care, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan that…
MS: Hinds County computer system remains under ransomware attack
Angela Williams reports: Hinds County is still experiencing computer issues following a cyberattack. The tax collector’s office will remain closed on Monday. The Circuit Clerk Office has also canceled jury duty for the week. Hinds County Administrator, Kenny Wayne Jones said in a statement, “Our systems and networks are being assessed, the process is intricate…
Massive ransomware attack on Sri Lanka’s state email domain
Sri Lanka Mirror reports: All Government offices using the “gov.lk” email domain, including the Cabinet Office, have lost data from May 17 to August 26, 2023, after a massive ransomware attack, the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) has confirmed. The virus could have affected around 5,000 email addresses, ICTA CEO Mahesh Perera said, admitting…
Russian man with Kremlin ties gets 9 years in US prison for hacking and insider trading scheme
Alanna Durkin Richer reports: A wealthy Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison for his role in a nearly $100 million stock market cheating scheme that relied on secret earnings information stolen through the hacking of U.S. computer networks. Vladislav Klyushin, who ran a Moscow-based information technology company that…
An inexcusable gap from breach to notification, or an excusable one?
Some state and federal laws provide specific timeframes by which breached entities must provide notice to regulators and to those affected by a data breach. Unfortunately, loopholes abound, as we seen in statutory language such as Minnesota’s breach notification law, where for timing of notification, it says: “The disclosure must be made in the most…