Ina Fried reports: Data breaches and ransomware attacks are getting worse. Some 2.6 billion personal records have been exposed in data breaches over the past two years and that number continues to grow, according to a new report commissioned by Apple. Why it matters: Apple says the escalating intrusions, combined with increases in ransomware means the tech industry needs to move toward greater use…
Category: Of Note
AlphV (BlackCat) leak site reportedly taken down by law enforcement (4)
When the AlphV site went offline yesterday, rumors started. Now intel firm RedSense has tweeted that they can confirm it was a law enforcement takedown: Today, RedSense can confirm that #ALPHV aka #BlackCat ransomware gang’s site has been taken down by law enforcement @4D435A There has been no statement from the Department of Justice yet….
Seattle cancer patients face blackmail threats after recent Fred Hutch data breach
Brittany Toolis reports: As if battling cancer isn’t hard enough, now patients at UW’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center are being extorted. Last month, the Cancer Center experienced a data breach, exposing data for an unknown number of patients. Some of those patients are getting emails threatening to leak their personal information if they don’t pay…
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights Settles First Ever Phishing Cyber-Attack Investigation
Louisiana Medical Group settles after investigation reveals large cybersecurity breach affecting nearly 35,000 patients Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), announced a settlement with Lafourche Medical Group, a Louisiana medical group specializing in emergency medicine, occupational medicine, and laboratory testing. The settlement resolves an investigation following a…
Millions of patient scans and health records spilling online thanks to decades-old protocol bug
Carly Page reports: Thousands of exposed servers are spilling the medical records and personal health information of millions of patients due to security weaknesses in a decades-old industry standard designed for storing and sharing medical images, researchers have warned. This standard, known as Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine, or DICOM for short, is the internationally…
Cybersecurity: Federal Agencies Made Progress, but Need to Fully Implement Incident Response Requirements (GAO Report)
GAO-24-105658 Published: Dec 04, 2023. Publicly Released: Dec 04, 2023. Fast Facts Federal agencies have made progress in preparing for and responding to cyber threats. For instance, agencies have improved their ability to detect, analyze, and handle incidents like ransomware attacks and data breaches. However, some agencies have not met the federal requirements for event…