The statistic that cybercriminals have been unleashing 18 million phishing emails laced with malware on a daily basis into cyberspace during the pandemic is mind boggling, and one that executives should pay attention to when prioritizing resources for user education. Math was never my strongest subject, but 18 million malicious emails targeted at all of
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C-Suite + Managers Pose Higher Security Risk to Organizations
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
You executives and managers who are in my age group (that is, you didn’t grow up with mobile devices and computers) listen up. According to several studies, you pose a higher security risk to your organization than the up-and-comers you manage.
According to a new survey of 2,000 workers aged 16 to 55+ in the…
GEO Group Hit with Ransomware Attack
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO), a publicly held company located in Boca Raton Florida, announced on November 3, 2020, that it is beginning to notify individuals following a ransomware attack that “impacted a limited amount of personally identifiable information and protected health information for some inmates and residents contained on certain servers for a small…
UK National Cyber Security Centre Issues Security Alert for SharePoint Vulnerability
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data Security
The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued an alert on October 16, 2020, to raise awareness “of a new remote code execution vulnerability (CVE – 2020 – 16952)”, which affects Microsoft’s SharePoint product. According to the alert, “successful exploitation of this vulnerability would allow an attacker to run arbitrary code and to carry out…
Chinese and Russian Hackers Targeting COVID-19 Vaccine Makers in U.S. Crosshairs
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Coronavirus, Enforcement + Litigation
Last week, authorities from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada accused a well-known hacker group tied to the Russian government, APT29 a/k/a Cozy Bear of using malware to exploit security vulnerabilities to enable it to steal COVID-19 vaccine research from companies located in these countries working to develop a vaccine. This was after a…
Cyber-Attacks Against Maritime Industry Quadrupled in Last Few Months
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
A recent report released by the British Ports Association and Astaara, a risk management firm based in the U.K., concludes that since February 2020, the maritime industry has seen a dramatic increase in cyber-attacks. The number of attacks has quadrupled, as companies struggle with COVID-19 and remote work forces.
According to the report, in what…
British Member of “The Dark Overlord” Hacking Organization Extradited to Face Conspiracy and Identify Theft Charges in the United States
By Robinson+Cole's Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Team on
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
Beginning in 2016, the computer hacking organization known as “The Dark Overlord,” began to target victims in the St. Louis, Missouri area, including various health care providers, several accounting firms, and a medical records company. By remotely accessing these victims’ computer networks without authorization, The Dark Overlord was able to obtain sensitive records and information,…
UK Information Commissioner’s Office Issues Guidance on Use of Encryption and Passwords in Connection with GDPR
By Benjamin Jensen on
The “security principle” under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires that organizations process personal data securely by means of “appropriate” technical and organizational measures. This month, the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued new guidance focused on two specific measures the ICO recommends that companies consider in complying with the GDPR security requirements: encryption and passwords.
Continue Reading UK Information Commissioner’s Office Issues Guidance on Use of Encryption and Passwords in Connection with GDPR
Will Insurance Provide Coverage for GDPR Fines?
By William Daley on
Posted in International Privacy Laws, Websites
As many of our readers know, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes significant obligations and responsibilities on entities with regard to data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union and the European Economic Area. Violations of GDPR can result in fines up to €20 million, or up to 4 percent of…
Think Tank Says Nuclear Missiles Can be Inadvertently Launched Through Cyber-Attacks
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
Just before the false alarm last weekend in Hawaii when residents were erroneously warned of an impending missile attack, think tank Chatham House issued a report stating that it had identified vulnerabilities in nuclear weapons systems located throughout the world that made them susceptible to malware and ransomware attacks that could lead to inadvertent missile…