A new report issued by Safetica USA has organized data breaches affecting over 500 individuals that were self-reported to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in 2016 into a list by state and records exposed....more
There has been lots of talk about the ripple effects of the Trump travel ban. But here’s a new twist I hadn’t heard before—U.S. Customs and Border Control (CBP) agents are detaining U.S. citizens and requiring them to unlock...more
2/20/2017
/ Cell Phones ,
Confidential Information ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Fourth Amendment ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Reform ,
Information Technology ,
Mobile Devices ,
NASA ,
Passwords ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Right to Privacy ,
Smartphones ,
Social Media ,
Technology ,
Travel Ban ,
Traveling Employee ,
Trump Administration ,
Wireless Devices
Pactera Technologies N.A., Inc. [www.Pactera.com] has released the report “Cybersecurity Threats for Treasury & Payment Management Systems: Six Things you Should Know to Manage Them.” It is easy to understand and pertinent,...more
We previously reported that the 30 year old regulations (last updated in 1987) relating to the disclosure of substance abuse treatment information has been updated by SAMHSA to bring it into the modern world of electronic...more
2/20/2017
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EHR ,
Federal Register ,
Final Rules ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SAMHSA ,
Substance Abuse ,
Trump Administration
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that a former contractor of a defense contractor has been indicted for stealing over 75 percent of hacking tools belonging to the Nations Security Agency’s offensive...more
2/16/2017
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hackers ,
Indictments ,
National Security ,
National Security Agency (NSA) ,
Privacy Concerns
Arby’s has announced that it is investigating its payment card systems after Brian Krebs first reported the incident.
According to reports, malware placed on Arby restaurants’ payment card systems allowed attackers to...more
A study released by Javelin Strategy & Research has concluded that the number of identity fraud cases in 2016 rose 16% from 2015, costing victims $16 billion in losses. This includes both identity theft and credit card fraud....more
This scam really makes me mad—especially for some of the most vulnerable in our society, including the elderly.
This scam starts when your phone rings and the person on the other end says “Can you hear me?” Being the...more
We always see a surge in W2 email phishing schemes this time of year, as it is tax time, and many individuals are filing their tax returns in order to get a quick refund. So are criminals and cyber-hackers.
...more
In a rare move by the OCR, it assessed a $3.2 million fine against Children’s Medical Center of Dallas (Children’s) after it issued a Notice of Proposed Determination against Children’s and Children’s failed to request a...more
2/6/2017
/ Covered Entities ,
Data Breach ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Fines ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HIPAA Breach ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI
The developers of two NBA video games were successful this week in getting a putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometrics law dismissed....more
2/6/2017
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Dismissals ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
NBA ,
Personal Data ,
Sports ,
Video Games
All of you reading this know I hate USB drives. I despise them. They are dead to me and you can’t talk me into allowing any company to use them unless they are controlled by IT and are encrypted at all times....more
FM Global and CFO Research Services have partnered together and recently issued a study titled “Finance’s Role in Operational Risk Management: CFO Research on Building a Resilient Company.”
...more
It doesn’t always pay to be a hacker. Major League Baseball (MLB) this week made a strong statement about its tolerance for teams hacking other teams. We previously reported on the incident when a Cardinals employee hacked...more
2/3/2017
/ Baseball ,
Cardinals ,
Confidential Information ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cyber Espionage ,
Data Breach ,
Fines ,
Hackers ,
Houston Astros ,
MLB ,
Passwords ,
Sports ,
Trade Secrets
Starting February 6, WNYC is starting a 5-day plan “to solve that digital dilemma” of having the convenience of living online, but trying to take control over who gets your personal information and what they do with it. It’s...more
MAPFRE Life Assurance Company of Puerto Rico learned the hard way about the risk of loss of patient information with portable devices like USBs, even when they are stored in the IT Department....more
A Time Warner customer filed a putative class action suit against it alleging that it violated the Cable Communications Privacy Act because it stored personal information of customers improperly. In particular, he alleged...more
The Indianapolis Colts mobile app is alleged by a putative class to record fans’ private conversations. In the putative class action, the named plaintiff alleges that the mobile app secretly activates the smart phone’s...more
1/30/2017
/ Cell Phones ,
Class Action ,
Data Collection ,
ECPA ,
Electronic Communications ,
Football ,
Forum ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
NFL ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Smartphones ,
Sports ,
Technology ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
Wireless Devices ,
Wireless Industry ,
Wireless Technology
Just when I thought everyone knew about the continued W2 schemes, where phishing emails are used to get company employees’ W2 forms so the thief can file a false tax return and get a refund, several additional clients have...more
My newest hero in the fight against ransomware is Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana (Little Red Door). I am sending a donation to it to celebrate its courage in the last few weeks.
Little Red Door...more
1/26/2017
/ Cancer ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Hackers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Malware ,
PHI ,
Ransomware
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued its final rule updating proposed changes to the Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records regulations (also known as 42 CFR Part 2...more
1/23/2017
/ Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Information Sharing ,
Medical Records ,
Privacy Concerns ,
SAMHSA ,
Substance Abuse
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued an update to its Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, which includes information relating to managing supply chain risks,...more
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed a Complaint against Google last week for alleged violations of the state’s Consumer Protection Act for its collection and use of students’ personal information and search history....more
1/23/2017
/ Advertising ,
Attorney General ,
Data Collection ,
Data Mining ,
Google ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Privacy Laws ,
Student Privacy ,
Students ,
Web Tracking
A Tennessee federal judge has approved a proposed settlement of up to $1.9 million to be paid by Mapco Express to individuals affected by a payment card data breach that occurred in 2013.
Two banks alleged that Mapco...more
The continued risk that vendors pose to companies, including health care entities cannot be overemphasized. This week, Sentara Healthcare (Sentara) announced that one of its third-party vendors was the victim of a...more