2020 will go down as one of the most stressful in my career as a cybersecurity professional. I have been working in this area of law full time since 2003. So that says a lot. On top of the stress of the spread of the coronavirus, this has been a particularly stressful year assisting clients … Continue Reading
Although it is logical that cyber-attacks have risen during the pandemic, and there is anecdotal evidence that it is occurring, including our own experience, an interesting new report was recently released by Allianz, which provides cyber-liability insurance products. According to the report, “While the COVID-19 outbreak cannot be said to be a direct cause of … Continue Reading
We spend a lot of time reporting on ransomware because we are seeing more incidents than ever before, and our readers comment that keeping them up to date on ransomware tactics is helpful. The ransomware gangs, strains and vectors are constantly changing, so it is very challenging for companies to keep up with their latest … Continue Reading
Criminals are apparently not taking any time off during this pandemic, and in fact by all accounts have increased their attacks, particularly targeting entities whose attention is diverted to dealing with the fallout of the Covid-19 crisis. In particular, educational institutions across the country have faced a recent onslaught of ransomware attacks, often crippling an … Continue Reading
You probably heard about the recent hack of Twitter accounts that took place on July 15, 2020. The hackers took over several prominent Twitter accounts, which resulted in a scam that netted over $118,000 in bitcoin for the hackers. One of the most startling things about the cyberattack was that it was led by a … Continue Reading
Secureworks issues an annual Incident Response Report that is very helpful in obtaining information on what types of incidents are occurring in order to become more resistant to threats. The 2020 IR Report was recently issued, and it contained some conclusions that made sense, while others were surprising. The Report, entitled Pandemic-Driven Change: The Effect … Continue Reading
It has been widely reported that hackers are taking advantage of the pandemic to perpetrate scams and frauds. We have seen attacks against workers of companies through phishing emails that include an attachment or link offering information or access to specialized treatment for COVID-19 to lure people to click on them. Once they click on … Continue Reading
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently issued an alert warning the public about vishing campaigns [see related post]. Vishing is defined by the FBI as “a form of criminal phone fraud, using social engineering over the telephone system to gain access to private personal and financial … Continue Reading
Most employers use vendors to assist with managing various employee benefits, including payroll, health and dental benefits, pharmacy, cost-reduction strategies, retirement, analysis and wellness programs. When using these vendors, the personal information of employees is provided to the vendor in data dumps. Usually that means that the vendors receive employees’ names, addresses, dates of birth, … Continue Reading
On July 10, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission, through its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), issued a warning to advisors and broker-dealers to “immediately” review their cybersecurity controls to prevent and respond to an increase in phishing campaigns and ransomware attacks. The Risk Alert advises that the OCIE has “observed an apparent … Continue Reading
It doesn’t matter in which state you are located, how many patients you treat, what kind of medicine you practice or how many employees you have, if you are a health care provider, you are being targeted and hackers are successful in victimizing you. That’s my take on the recent Becker’s Health IT article that … Continue Reading
Dating sites continue to be the source of compromise of sensitive personal information. Another example of this was discovered recently by security researchers at WizCase, who found that information on millions of users of up to 11 different dating service sites was accessible due to misconfigured cloud storage. The databases that were discovered included users’ … Continue Reading
The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) has warned that financial services firms, and in particular smaller ones, are being attacked at an increased rate during the coronavirus pandemic. According to FS-ISAC, phishing attacks against financial services firms increased by one-third in the first quarter of 2020. In that time period, FS-ISAC identified … Continue Reading
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently issued guidance to its regulated entities regarding heightened cybersecurity awareness as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. DFS described three primary areas of heightened risk during this time: remote working, increased instances of phishing and fraud, and third-party risks. With respect to remote working, DFS noted … Continue Reading
Google has warned users in a blog article that nation state-backed hackers are using the COVID-19 crisis to ramp up phishing attempts and, in one example, are posing as American fast food franchises and sending malicious emails with fake offers and coupons to government officials and health care workers. Google has identified over 12 government-backed … Continue Reading
In response to the coronavirus crisis, many companies have mandated that employees work from home in order to assist in slowing the spread of the virus. With more employees working from home, and a wider network to protect, security experts are warning companies to be vigilant with security measures. In addition, it is widely reported … Continue Reading
Scammers always go back to the good old scams, even when they are making bundles on new scams. Although our lives have been consumed of late with an onslaught of ransomware attacks, this past week, we have seen an uptick in good old wire fraud schemes. The uptick is so significant that it warrants a … Continue Reading
Confirming what we are seeing in the field, cybersecurity firm Cybersecurity Ventures has predicted that, globally, businesses in 2021 will fall victim to a ransomware attack every 11 seconds, down from every 14 seconds in 2019. That figure is based on historical cybercrime figures. It is estimated that the cost of ransomware to businesses will … Continue Reading
A new study by Check Point Research shows that cyber criminals are using well-known brands to lure victims into clicking on nefarious links, providing personal information or credentials, or getting users to transfer money. This is an old malware trick that we used to see and now recognize. Scammers send a phishing email after copying … Continue Reading
It’s getting difficult to keep up with the jargon of all of the new digital scams. The SaaSes in the beginning became regular business terms, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Business Processes-as-a-Service (BPaaS). But then the criminal enterprises came up with Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS), Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) and now Crime-as-a-Service (CaaS). A new Crime-as-a-Service offering is targeting … Continue Reading
After the killing of Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020, by the U.S. government, the cybersecurity news industry has been abuzz about whether Iran will engage in cyber terrorism, and if so, to what degree, as part of its pledge to strike back at the U.S. On January 5, Forbes reported that the first instance … Continue Reading
It has been reported by Troy Hunt, the security researcher who provides the “Have I Been Pwned” free breach notification service, that 1.4 million passwords and personal information of customers of GateHub, a cryptocurrency wallet service provider, and 800,000 customers of EpicBot gaming bot provider RuneScape are for sale on the web. According to Hunt, … Continue Reading
A recent Ponemon Institute study finds that small and mid-sized businesses continue to be targeted by cybercriminals, and are struggling to direct an appropriate amount of resources to combat the attacks. The Ponemon study finds that 76 percent of the 592 companies surveyed had experienced a cyber-attack in the previous year, up from 70 percent … Continue Reading
July 2019 was the worst month in history for health care data breaches, with a total of 50 breaches that affected more than 500 records reported to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), according to HIPAA Journal. Those 50 reportable data breaches exposed more than 35 million individuals’ health care records. HIPAA Journal opines that … Continue Reading
