The Federal Trade Commission has finalized an order against Blackbaud Inc. settling allegations that its lax security practices allowed a hacker to breach the company’s network and access the personal data of millions of consumers including Social Security and bank account numbers. In a complaint first announced in February 2024, the FTC charged that the South Carolina firm,…
HHS launches $50M security initiative to thwart hospital ransomware
Chad Van Alstin reports: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a $50 million incentive program to encourage hospitals to improve their cybersecurity. Dubbed the Universal Patching and Remediation for Autonomous Defense—or UPGRADE—program, the initiative aims to speed up vulnerability detection and patch deployment through the creation of a platform that…
Mosaic Mental Health notifies patients of breach
On September 25, 2023, Riverdale Mental Health d/b/a Mosaic Mental Health (“MOSAIC”) notified HHS of an incident that affected 7,281 patients. The incident was coded as a “hacking/IT incident” involving their network, but no further details were available at the time. On April 3, more than six months later, they sent out notification letters. Massachusetts…
Swiss law enforcement actions appear linked to seizure of BreachForums
There have been a few developments likely related to the seizure of BreachForums. As a preview, recall that Kantonspolizei Zürich was one of the cooperating entities in the takedown and that the seizure notice had two avatars behind bars. One avatar was Baphomet, the administrator of the forum. The other was a default avatar that…
UK NCSC and Insurance Associations Publish Guidance on the Approach to Ransom Payments
Financial and insurance organizations have been under increasing attack by Scattered Spider. Now there is more guidance for entities. Hunton Andrews Kurth notes: On May 14, 2024, the UK National Cyber Security Centre (“NCSC”) and three major UK insurance associations (Association of British Insurers (“ABI”), British Insurance Brokers’ Association (“BIBA”) and International Underwriting Association (“IUA”)),…
British Library’s candid ransomware comms driven by ’emotional intelligence’
Connor Jones reports: Emotional intelligence was at the heart of the British Library’s widely hailed response to its October ransomware attack, according to CEO Roly Keating. The British Library’s (BL) ransomware attack last year was one of the most damaging in recent memory, at least in the UK. The transparency of the organization’s response over…