New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a series of cybersecurity proposals that are designed to protect consumers and government entities from cybercrime and identity theft. One of the proposals includes the creation of a...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint in Northern California against D-Link for putting thousands of consumers at risk over the past decade for failing to have adequate security practices in its routers and...more
For arguably the first time, a law firm, Johnson & Bell, has been sued by Edelman PC for lax data security practices that allegedly put client data at risk....more
The tally of records breached in 2016 (through November) globally was over 2.1 billion, according to IT Governance. With the announcement yesterday of Yahoo’s breach of another 1 billion records, that tally is now up to 3.1...more
12/16/2016
/ Credit Cards ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Email ,
Hackers ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI
Security researcher Samy Kamkar has announced that a new hacking tool—PoisonTap—can be loaded onto a USB stick and used to hijack the Internet connection of one’s computer....more
We often hear from small businesses that they do not believe they can be a “target” of hackers, or that they are at risk of a cyber intrusion. This thought is naïve as small businesses are at risk of cyber intrusions, and due...more
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts recently announced that three former district managers of the pharmaceutical firm Warner Chilcott have been sentenced for violating the Health Insurance...more
11/14/2016
/ Bonuses ,
Data Security ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
PHI ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Warner Chilcott
It is hard to stay focused after election night.
Since the new administration has a dearth of plans, here are some tips for it to get a jumpstart on cybersecurity priorities....more
11/14/2016
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Hackers ,
Presidential Elections ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Trump Administration
We consistently comment about the importance of educating the next generation of students on cybersecurity. The earlier the better, as far as I am concerned-as early as the third grade. There is a dearth of cybersecurity...more
Forrester recently issued its “2017 Predictions: Dynamics that Will Shape the Future in the Age of the Consumer,” which among others, makes interesting predictions relating to cybersecurity risks coming up in 2017....more
A recent nationwide poll conducted by The Rad Campaign and Lincoln Park Strategies shows that although 96 percent of American social media users distrust the ability of social media platforms to protect their personal...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week issued the publication, Data Breach Response: A Guide for Business, that outlines steps it recommends that businesses take when it believes it may have suffered a data breach....more
There are a half a billion chip cards in the market right now. They have been touted to improve security and reduce credit card fraud. But do they?
According to a new report, both Visa and MasterCard have reported that...more
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently published a draft cybersecurity self-assessment tool entitled “The Baldrige Cybersecurity Excellence Builder,” which provides organizations with a tool to...more
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently published a new article that finds that most typical computer users experience security fatigue that leads users to engage in risky behavior when they are at...more
I never knew that since 2006, October has been designated as National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. According to the Department of Health and Human Service’s website, “This year’s Bullying Prevention Awareness Month...more
In the past few years, we have seen the explosion of “big data,” “data analytics,” “data aggregation,” “predictive modeling,” and “data breaches.”
None of these terms existed when I graduated from law school. We have...more
We have written before about the ability of hackers to file false tax returns to get fraudulent refunds by using the IRS website, and how hundreds of thousands of Americans have become victims of tax fraud.
The IRS...more
MedStar Health Cardiology Associates, (“MedStar Cardiology”) affiliated with MedStar Health, which was recently in the news for a ransomware attack, discovered that an employee sent protected health information of 907...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a press release on August 29, 2016, indicating that it is seeking comments on the Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information, applicable to financial institutions....more
Not surprisingly, on August 30, 2016, LabMD filed its Application for a Stay of the Final Order of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) pending review of the order by the appellate court. But since the matter is still pending...more
9/2/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Data Breach ,
Data Security ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
LabMD ,
PHI ,
Section 5 ,
Stays ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
I love to train employees on data privacy and security. It tends to be rather entertaining as I can tell crazy stories about real life scenarios about data breaches or compromises. The stores are quite beneficial, as most...more
Passwords have always been a challenge. It is hard to remember them, and you are not supposed to use the same password across different platforms. Several companies, including LastPass, have tried to help consumers with...more
Last week, the White House issued a new directive that outlines how the government handles significant cyber incidents, which gives the public information on which agency to call in the event of a cyber incident. We often get...more
My Facebook account got hacked, so I am no longer on Facebook. LinkedIn was also hacked and users were told to reset their passwords, which I did immediately. I don’t use Twitter, because it’s just another way to get hacked,...more