Phil Muncaster reports: Researchers have recorded a 935% year-on-year increase in double extortion attacks, with data from over 2300 companies posted onto ransomware extortion sites. Group-IB’s Hi-Tech Crime Trends 2021/2022 report covers the period from the second half of 2020 to the first half of 2021. During that time, an “unholy alliance” of initial access brokers and…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
CarePartners agrees to settle proposed cyberattack class action for up to $3.4 million, but don’t party just yet
Bernise Carolino reports that there is a settlement in a lawsuit against CarePartners in Canada. The proposed class-action lawsuit stemmed from a breach in 2018 that DataBreaches.net investigated and covered on this site. The firms of Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP (HSH), Waddell Phillips PC and Schneider Law Firm represented the plaintiffs, Arthur Redublo and…
NZ: OPC finds leading cause of privacy breaches is human error
Catherine Knowles reports: Human error is the leading cause of serious privacy breaches, according to a new report released today by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC). Privacy Commissioner John Edwards says, “We are seeing clear patterns emerging since mandatory reporting of serious privacy breaches came into effect with the Privacy Act 2020 on…
Vendors and HIPAA
Matt Fisher of Carium writes: An important part of establishing strong security for an organization rests with how it interacts with its vendors. The creation of a chain of entities creating, interacting with, storing, or otherwise handling sensitive patient information starts at the top, but can easily and frequently go down many layers. Given the…
Recovering from ransomware: One organization’s inside story
Yann Serra reports: On Sunday 21 February 2021, Manutan, a large office equipment distributor, discovered that two-thirds of its 1,200 servers had succumbed to a cyber attack by the DoppelPaymer ransomware crew. Commercial activity at the France-headquartered company – which has 25 subsidiaries spread across Europe – would be frozen for 10 days and did not resume fully until…
Ransomware group continually rebrands to slip under the radar
Lindsey O’Donnell-Welch writes: A ransomware operator has continually rebranded itself over the past year in order to evade detection, while launching cyberattacks on critical infrastructure across several industries. Researchers with Mandiant detailed a threat group called UNC2190, which is an operator behind an affiliate ransomware program. Since June, researchers said they have observed the group targeting…