It was our nightmare realized: a medical center was completely paralyzed by a ransomware attack and someone died as a result (SEE UPDATE2 below for correction on that). As of last week, the University Clinic in Düsseldorf reported that it was in a state of emergency. Operations had been canceled, and ambulances had to be…
COVID-19 and HIPAA: HHS’s Troubled Approach to Waiving Privacy and Security Rules for the Pandemic
A snippet from the Executive Summary of a new report written by Robert Gellman and Pam Dixon: This report offers an analysis of existing laws and practices regarding both types of HIPAA COVID-19 waivers. The report recommends that, when the current emergency subsides, the Secretary of HHS review in a systematic way the privacy, security,…
Texas Teams Up with FireEye to Tackle Ransomware
This may help some Texas school districts and other public agencies in Texas. I usually don’t post press releases that promote commercial services, but am making an exception because I like the idea that a state is trying to provide more proactive and defensive support to school districts as well as other state agencies: FireEye,…
NY: Floral Park-Bellerose school district hit with ransomware attack
Elliott Weld reports: Floral Park-Bellerose school district officials announced at their Board of Education meeting Monday that the district’s computer system had been infected with a type of malware known as “ransomware,” impeding its progress in delivering virtual education to students. Read more on The Island Now. The report does not indicate what type of…
GA: Jekyll Island Authority computer system infiltrated in ransomware attack
The Brunswick News reports: Jekyll Island Authority fell victim last week to a ransomware attack that has since been mostly addressed. JIA Executive Director Jones Hooks informed the authority’s board at its monthly meeting Tuesday that JIA computer systems were infected by a ransomware attack designed to damage or gain unauthorized access to the system. “All of our computer…
Chinese Tech Giant Alibaba’s Servers Found To Be Involved In Data Theft, At-least 72 Servers Sending Data To China
Swarajya reports: Top intelligence sources have told media that Chinese data cloud servers are sending data of Indian users to China, and that the Chinese technology giant Alibaba’s equipment in India may be involved in this. Officials speaking to News18 network have reportedly disclosed that ‘all sensitive and ancillary forms of data’ are sent to remote servers…