Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but remember that I am only the messenger. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 23 Insight Report (published in collaboration with Accenture), although business leaders are more aware of the risk of cyber issues to their organizations, there remain challenges on how organizations are

Linn Foster Freedman
Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chair’s the firm’s Data Privacy and Security Team. Linn focuses her practice on compliance with all state and federal privacy and security laws and regulations. She counsels a range of public and private clients from industries such as construction, education, health care, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, utilities and critical infrastructure, marine and charitable organizations, on state and federal data privacy and security investigations, as well as emergency data breach response and mitigation. Linn is an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Cybersecurity at Brown University and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law. Prior to joining the firm, Linn served as assistant attorney general and deputy chief of the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Rhode Island. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law and her B.A., with honors, in American Studies from Newcomb College of Tulane University. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Read her full rc.com bio here.
Social Media Enables Social Engineering Scams
The more one uses and shares on social media, the more information is publicly available for cyber attackers to use to exploit users’ personal and professional information.
It is hard for people to realize that every single thing shared on any social media platform is available for friends and foes alike to access and use.
Privacy Tip #356 – GoodRx Settles with FTC for Sharing Health Information for Advertising
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on February 1, 2023 that it has settled, for $1.5M, its first enforcement action under its Health Breach Notification Rule against GoodRx Holdings, Inc., a telehealth and prescription drug provider.
According to the press release, the FTC alleged that GoodRx failed “to notify consumers and others of its unauthorized…
Chick-Fil-A Sued for Sharing Data through Meta Pixel
While plaintiffs’ attorneys were initially focused late last year on suing health care entities for using Pixel and other tracking technology to share information about website users with social media platforms such as Meta (formerly Facebook), they are now eyeing other industries, including the fast food industry.
This week, a class action complaint was filed…
T-Mobile Sued for Data Breach of 37 Million Records
On January 22, 2023, T-Mobile was sued in federal court in California alleging negligence, unjust enrichment, breach of express contract, breach of implied contract, and invasion of privacy over the recently-disclosed data breach of more than 37 million postpaid and prepaid customer records.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff was informed just two days…
Privacy Tip #355 – Avoid Employment Offer Scams
In response to a rash of employment offer scams, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued a scam alert intended to educate job seekers so they can avoid being victimized.
Not only are individuals subject to these scams, but legitimate businesses are spoofed and used to conduct the scams and they only find that out…
235 Million Twitter User Email Addresses Posted on Hacking Forum
Israeli cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock has reported that the email addresses of more than 235 million Twitter users have been stolen and posted by more than one hacker on an online hacking forum. According to the security researcher’s Twitter posts, the compromise “is real and has an impact on almost every Twitter user. The database…
Privacy Tip #354 – Scammers Use Weather Emergencies Against Victims
It has been difficult to watch the extreme weather patterns that have been happening around the U.S. over the past few months. Fires and torrential rainstorms in California, tornadoes down south, blizzards in the Midwest and New York, and a devastating hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. It is heartbreaking to see the devastation and…
University of Texas at Austin Permanently Blocks TikTok on Network
On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, the University of Texas at Austin announced that it has blocked TikTok access across the university’s networks. According to the announcement to its users, “You are no longer able to access TikTok on any device if you are connected to the university via its wired or WIFI networks.” The measure…
LastPass Updates Disclosure of Security Incident
There are pros and cons to using a password manager [view related posts]. The biggest pro is that it helps keep all of our passwords organized and safe. The biggest con is that if the password manager is compromised, and the master password gets into the wrong hands, all of our passwords are compromised.
Password management company LastPass has been tackling several security incidents over the past few months. On August 25, 2022, LastPass informed its customers that it discovered unusual activity within its environment and determined that “an unauthorized party gained access to portions of the LastPass development environment…and took portions of source code and some proprietary LastPass technical information.” At that time, LastPass assured customers that their Master Password had not been compromised and didn’t recommend any action.…
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