New post by Mark Arena of Intel471 begins: This blog post takes a look at the credibility of claims in public reports of North Korean (referred to as DPRK for the rest of this post) links to Russian-speaking cybercriminals. The post is based as much as possible on public and open sources from credible parties…
Did ransomware threat actors hit a German medical clinic by mistake? Either way, someone died as a result.
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…