From the U.S. Department of Justice, February 18, 2025 Note: View the settlement agreement here. Health Net Federal Services Inc. (HNFS) of Rancho Cordova, California and its corporate parent, St. Louis-based Centene Corporation, have agreed to pay $11,253,400 to resolve claims that HNFS falsely certified compliance with cybersecurity requirements in a contract with the U.S. Department…
Deal leaks: data protection during M&A
Fraser Tennant reports: …. The reality is that M&A practitioners, in their quest to negotiate the best possible deal, may be less focused on the tools that are used to store and share confidential transactional data – both internally and externally. This can leave such data highly vulnerable to hackers with malicious intent. “Threat actors…
As US newspaper outages drag on, Lee Enterprises blames cyberattack for encrypting critical systems
Zack Whittaker reports: Newspaper publishing giant Lee Enterprises said an ongoing cyberattack is causing disruptions across its business, and is now in its third week of outages. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Lee said it was conducting a forensic analysis to determine if sensitive or personal data was stolen in…
The Myth of Jurisdictional Privacy
by Stephen Gielda Founder, Packetderm LLC Understanding Global Surveillance In discussions of online privacy, you’ll often hear passionate debates about jurisdiction, with particular focus on avoiding the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand). The argument goes that by choosing a service provider outside these nations, you can somehow escape…
Ransomware attack affects Michigan casinos and tribal health centers
On February 15, the RansomHub ransomware group claimed responsibility for an attack on the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. RansomHub claims to have “temporarily locked” the tribe’s infrastructure and to have acquired 119 GB of files (501, 211 files). The affected systems reportedly include casinos, convenience stores, government buildings, and telecommunications services, but…
Bill raising the bar for class-action suits in data breach incidents advances
Rural Radio reports: A measure that would raise the bar for filing class-action lawsuits in state courts against private entities that suffer a cybersecurity breach has received first round approval in the Nebraska Legislature. Lawmakers spent a considerable amount of floor debate Tuesday and today discussing LB 241, which would require willful, wanton, or gross…