I looked at this news article because it struck me as unusual that a middle school student would be charged with identity theft, but after reading the story, it struck me that this may be more properly understood as a case of online harassment. But then I realized that impersonation accounts can be used for…
Category: U.S.
Members of at least two health insurance plans notified of ransomware attack on PracticeMax (updated)
Updated March 7, 2022: PracticeMax reported this incident to the Maine Attorney General’s Office as impacting a total of 165,698 patients. Their updated notice explains that the breach began on April 17, 2021, and they became aware of technical problems on May 1, 2021. The notice also reads, in part: On October 19, 2021, while…
Kemper Proposes $17.6M Settlement of Data Breach Claims
Insurance Journal reports and update on litigation stemming from a breach previously noted on this site. Kemper Insurance has proposed to settle a class action stemming from two data breaches in a deal valued at about $17.6 million. The dual breaches could have compromised the personal information of an estimated 6.1 million customers and employees….
NJ: University Hospital recently learned of long-running insider-wrongdoing breach
The following notice by University Hospital in New Jersey is the kind of notification no healthcare entity wants to have to publish. It involves a rogue employee misusing their access to obtain information on patients that may ultimately be provided to personal injury lawyers or those trying to recruit clients or patients who have suffered…
Judge Sentences Michigan Man to 7 Years in Prison for Hacking UPMC HR Databases and Stealing Employees’ Personal Information
There’s one more update to a 2014 breach that impacted 65,000 employees of UPMC. The civil suit by the employees settled in July, so this may be the last of the legal activity stemming from this case. PITTSBURGH, PA – Justin Sean Johnson was sentenced on Friday to the statutory maximum sentence of 60 months’…
CISA Alert (AA21-291A) BlackMatter Ransomware
Technical Details Overview First seen in July 2021, BlackMatter is ransomware-as-a-service (Raas) tool that allows the ransomware’s developers to profit from cybercriminal affiliates (i.e., BlackMatter actors) who deploy it against victims. BlackMatter is a possible rebrand of DarkSide, a RaaS which was active from September 2020 through May 2021. BlackMatter actors have attacked numerous U.S.-based…