Alexander Berengaut writes: Last summer, Marcus Hutchins, the security researcher who stopped the “WannaCry” malware attack, was arrested and charged for his role in allegedly creating and conspiring to sell a different piece of malware, known as Kronos. As we have previously discussed on this blog, however, the indictment was notable for its lack of…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Study exposes murky ecosystem of ransomware payments
This is interesting. Yhumi Tsun reports: Researchers have exposed the murky ecosystem of ransomware payments wherein they have revealed how hackers prefer Russian Bitcoin exchange and how South Koreans are among the most targeted victims. Researchers are optimistic their work could help law enforcement track cyber criminals. Ransomware attacks, which encrypt and hold a computer…
Australia, your privacy has been breached — we reveal the biggest health data leaks
Sue Dunleavy reports: The sensitive health data of Australians is subject to a data breach every two days and the organisations and governments that fail to protect it are facing no financial penalties. As outrage builds over Facebook’s failure to protect privacy, a News Corp investigation has uncovered health data that shows if Australians have…
Businesses are using injunctions to stop hackers publishing secrets – or they’re trying to!
Matt Burgess reports: “Do not pretend that I do not exist, do not ignore me or break the deadlines,” was the message from one unknown hacker to a British company targeted in February 2018. The person stole a “very large quantity of data”. Both the hacker and the hacked company are the subject of a…
Deeper Dive: Take Action to Close the Largest Cause of Data Security Incidents – Your Employees
David Kitchen writes: If you work at a typical company, employee actions and inadvertent disclosures present the greatest threat to the security of your data. Therefore, providing proper training and technical safeguards is one of the most important means to enhance your company’s security profile. In BakerHostetler’s newly-released 2018 Data Security Incident Response Report, we…
States Increase HIPAA Enforcement
Elliot Golding and Jennifer Tharp of Squire Patton Boggs write: Overview of Recent Settlement Actions Recent Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) enforcement settlements for Virtual Medical Group (“VMG”) in New Jersey and EmblemHealth in New York may signal a broader trend of increased state HIPAA enforcement. Under the Health Information Technology for Economic…