Skye Witley and Christopher Brown report: Companies handling health data are fending off more cyberattacks each year, and those that do get hacked are facing costly litigation at rapidly rising rates, a Bloomberg Law analysis found. The monthly average of new class actions filed over health data breaches so far this year is nearly double…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
A New Supply Chain Attack Hit Close to 100 Victims—and Clues Point to China
Andy Greenberg reports: Every software supply chain attack, in which hackers corrupt a legitimate application to push out their malware to hundreds or potentially thousands of victims, represents a disturbing new outbreak of a cybersecurity scourge. But when that supply chain attack is pulled off by a mysterious group of hackers, abusing a Microsoft trusted software…
Snatch Team starts really detailing their attacks and ups the ante for those who don’t pay up
Snatch Team has recently been exploring some novel uses of Telegram. Unlike other groups that use Telegram mainly to list new leaks, Snatch is providing commentaries and analyses of their breaches and more educational materials for readers. Some of their commentaries on specific incidents can be fodder for any lawsuits against the companies or entities…
After cyber breach, Point32Health suffers financial losses
Jessica Bartlett reports: A crippling cyber attack at the state’s second-largest insurer not only interrupted operations for months but also pummeled the insurer’s financials. For the six months ending in June, Point32Health reported a $102.7 million operating loss on $4.8 billion in revenue. Those results compare to a $25.8 million operating loss on $4.9 billion…
Haggling With Hackers: Surprising Lessons From 50 Negotiations With Ransomware Gangs
Christopher Janaro writes: The prevailing wisdom from cybersecurity experts is that trying to negotiate with ransomware hackers is a bad idea, but on December 30, 2020, one victim broke the rules and gave it a shot. “Help?” they typed into one of the compromised computers. “Hello,” one of the hackers replied. “Are you ready to…
Health Data and Investigations: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Matt Fisher writes: Demands for medical records can stem from a variety of investigations, which can involve a myriad of sources. The most recent example driving headlines is an investigation involving Vanderbilt University Medical Center (“VUMC”). VUMC disclosed records concerning treatment of transgender patients to the Tennessee Attorney General. According to the Attorney General, an investigation of…