According to a New York Times story this weekend, the Security Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against SolarWinds is driving discussions in boardrooms and corporate security departments of large organizations about the handling and reporting of cybersecurity breaches. It turns out that such boards and departments may not be the only ones following the SEC’s increased focus
Cybersecurity Awareness Month Series: FBI Director Asks for Help to Fight Cyber Attacks
When hit with a cybersecurity attack, organizations are often not inclined to bring in federal law enforcement. Recent comments by FBI Director Christopher Wray at Mandiant’s annual mWISE 2023 conference seek to encourage the private sector to reconsider, as reported in CIODive. Doing so is an important consideration and depending on certain factors, it
Insights From The IBM 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report
The annual Cost of a Data Breach Report (Report) published by IBM is reliably full of helpful cybersecurity data. This year is no different. After reviewing the Report, we pulled out some interesting data points. Of course, the Report as a whole is well worth the read, but if you don’t have the time to
OCR Official Speaks About Compliance Concerns for HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates
What do ransomware, Yelp, and website tracking technologies all have in common? They are troubling areas of concern for HIPAA covered entities and business associates, according to one official from the federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) which enforces the HIPAA privacy and security rules. Recently, the Executive Editor of Information Security Media Group’s (ISMG’s)
Hospital Mergers Double the Risk of a Data Breach, Study Shows
The healthcare sector is a prime target for data breaches. According to a summary by the HIPAA Journal, 32% of all data breaches between 2015 and 2022 were in the healthcare sector, “almost double the number recorded in the financial and manufacturing sectors.” Industry analysts cite to many reasons for this, including the sensitivity
Cyber Safety Review Board Issues Compelling Report about Lapsus$, MFA Vulnerabilities, and Helpful Recommendations
The Cyber Safety Review Board (Board) issued a report entitled, Review of the Attacks Associates with Lapsus$ and Related Threat Groups (Report), released by the Department of Homeland Security on August 10, 2023. The Report begins with a message from the Board’s Chair and Vice Chair discussing WarGames, a movie with interesting parallels to
White House Announces Efforts to Strengthen K-12 Schools’ Cybersecurity
In a 2019 post about increasing cyber risks in K-12 schools, we cited a report, “The State of K-12 Cybersecurity: 2018 Year in Review,” that contained sobering information about cybersecurity in local school districts across the country. According to that report, in 2018, there were 122 publicly-disclosed cybersecurity incidents affecting school districts across
A New Low For Hackers – Threatening to Disclose Patient Medical, Mental Health Records as Ransom for Payment
Ransomware is a scary term for many business leaders and CISOs who dread being hit with a malware attack that locks up their data and could shut down operations. They expect to find that oddly-worded ransom note advising how they could recover access to their data, for a sizable fee of course. For a variety
Reminder: The FTC “Safeguards Rule” Compliance Date is Next Month
The Federal Trade Commission updated its “Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information” (“Safeguards Rule”) and extended the compliance deadline to June 9, 2023. Some entities still may be wondering – “Do these regulations apply to my business?” and “What do I have to do?”
Back in 2021, we provided a high-level summary of the Safeguards Rule
Stolen Databases Obtained In Transaction Leads to $400K Settlement with PA and OH Attorneys General
This post deals with another data breach, yes, hackers were able to compromise the organization’s systems and exfiltrate personal information relating to over 45,000 Pennsylvania and Ohio residents. However, there are several important takeaways from this case, including cybersecurity in corporate transactions, data retention and destruction, and incident response planning.
According to the Assurance of