OCR has settled a complaint against a covered entity for violations that first occurred prior to November, 2013, but continued thereafter. Yes, 2013. That’s when Steven A. Porter, M.D., first reported a breach to OCR that involved his business associate Elevation43. According to the complaint Porter filed at the time, and as described by OCR,…
Category: Of Note
French Firms Rocked by Kasbah Hacker?
Brian Krebs reports: A large number of French critical infrastructure firms were hacked as part of an extended malware campaign that appears to have been orchestrated by at least one attacker based in Morocco, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. An individual thought to be involved has earned accolades from the likes of Apple, Dell, and Microsoft for helping to find and…
Coder charged in massive CIA leak portrayed as vindictive
Jim Mustian of AP reports: A software engineer on trial in the largest leak of classified information in CIA history was “prepared to do anything” to betray the agency, federal prosecutors said Monday as a defense attorney argued the man had been scapegoated for a breach that exposed secret cyberweapons and spying techniques. A Manhattan…
Ransomware victims are paying out millions a month. One particular version has cost them the most.
Steve Ranger reports: Ransomware victims have paid out more than $140 million to crooks over the last six-and-a-half years, according to calculations by the FBI. […] Ryuk was the leading ransomware variant, generating roughly $61m between February 2018 and October 2019. Crysis/Dharma was the second most lucrative ransomware, generating $24m between November 2016 and November 2019. Third on the…
Ca: LifeLabs files petition to keep cyberattack report from B.C. privacy commissioner
Andrew Weichel reports: The B.C.-based laboratory testing company that was targeted in a cyberattack last fall is trying to keep the province’s privacy commissioner from accessing a third-party report on the breach. In a petition filed this month in B.C. Supreme Court, LifeLabs argued it shouldn’t have to turn over a report prepared by cybersecurity…
FBI Warned Of Fraudster’s Paradise: Up To 130,000 Hacked Asus Routers On Sale For A Few Dollars
Thomas Brewster reports: The FBI has been tipped off about a novel cybercriminal operation in which a hacker managed not only to breach as many as 130,000 Asus routers, but is also scoring them as to how useful they might be for fraudsters. This hacker’s selling access to those individual Asus devices—most of them based…