Don’t become a victim of spear phishing
Don’t become a victim of spear phishing (USA Today) We have all heard about the sophisticated malware responsible for the wave of data breaches that began last year with Target and recently included Home Depot and JPMorgan Chase, but the question that many people fail to ask is how did the malware necessary to perpetrate these major data breaches get downloaded into the seemingly secure computers of major companies and government agencies? The answer in almost every instance is the same. It is done through a technique called phishing. Phishing occurs when someone receives an e-mail...
read moreYour medical record is worth more to hackers than your credit card
By Caroline Humer and Jim Finkle Reuters NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) – Your medical information is worth 10 times more than your credit card number on the black market. Last month, the FBI warned healthcare providers to guard against cyber attacks after one of the largest U.S. hospital operators, Community Health Systems Inc, said Chinese hackers had broken into its computer network and stolen the personal information of 4.5 million patients. Security experts say cyber criminals are increasingly targeting the $3 trillion U.S. healthcare industry, which has many companies still reliant on...
read moreThe Wheedle on the Needle
As many of our clients know our founder and CEO, James Cosgrove, is also the son of Stephen Cosgrove author of “The Wheedle on The Needle” and many many many other children’s books. If you are looking for a copy, please feel free to contact Stephen Cosgrove at stephen@stephencosgrove.com or his personal web site, www.stephencosgrove.com. If you are one of our clients, let him know.
read moreCryptoLocker Alert
Just last month, antivirus companies discovered a new ransomware known as Cryptolocker. This ransomware is particularly nasty because infected users are in danger of losing their personal files forever. Spread through email attachments, this ransomware has been seen targeting companies through phishing attacks. Cryptolocker will encrypt users’ files using asymmetric encryption, which requires both a public and private key. The public key is used to encrypt and verify data, while private key is used for decryption, each the inverse of the other. For more information please see the 2 sites...
read moreWhat is a HIPAA HITECH Breach
Interim final breach notification regulations, issued in August 2009, implement section 13402 of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act by requiring HIPAA covered entities and their business associates to provide notification following a breach of unsecured protected health information. Similar breach notification provisions implemented and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), apply to vendors of personal health records and their third party service providers, pursuant to section 13407 of the HITECH Act....
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