K&R insurance. Kidnap and Ransom(ware)

Businesses are increasingly getting insurance cover for cyber liability incidents. Whilst cover was traditionally focussed on US-style 3rd party losses relating to data breaches, claims are accelerating in the 1st party / ransomware and business interruption arena. Ransomware claims are growing s...

The Taxman Cometh for ID Theft Victims

The unprecedented volume of unemployment insurance fraud witnessed in 2020 hasnt abated, although news coverage of the issue has largely been pushed off the front pages by other events. But the ID theft problem is coming to the fore once again: Countless Americans will soon be receiving notices...

The Now-Defunct Firms Behind 8chan, QAnon

Some of the worlds largest Internet firms have taken steps to crack down on disinformation spread by QAnon conspiracy theorists and the hate-filled anonymous message board 8chan. But according to a California-based security researcher, those seeking to de-platform these communities may have...

Nuclear Satcoms

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear incident in 2011 has led to safety changes that may have an interesting knock-on effect on reactor security. Loss of telemetry during the flooding, as a result of the subsequent loss of power, made assessment of the incident hard to manage. Critical data about the...

Data Breach Fines: Are They Working to Boost Consumer Safety?

Breach statistics are downright discouraging: Over the past five years the number of businesses breached has skyrocketed. The human consequences are also bad, with billions of private email addresses, bankcard numbers and other deeply personal data points exposed online and now in the hands of...

Countdown to Black Hat: Top 10 Sessions to Attend — #8

Black Hat kicks off in a few days, and for Qualys customers still planning their schedule we have our weekly recommendation from among the conference’s many training courses and research briefings: The Enemy Within: Modern Supply Chain Attacks. Speaker Eric Doerr, General Manager of the Microsoft...

Thoughts on Cloud Security

Recently I've been reading about cloud security and security with respect to DevOps. I'll say more about the excellent book I'm reading, but I had a moment of déjà vu during one section. The book described how cloud security is a big change from enterprise security because it relies less on...

Uber fined $1.1 million by UK and Dutch regulators over 2016 data breach

British and Dutch data protection regulators Tuesday hit the ride-sharing company Uber with a total fine of $1,170,892 1.1 million for failing to protect its customers' personal information during a 2016 cyber attack involving millions of users. Late last year, Uber unveiled that the company had...

Nissan Finance Canada Suffers Data Breach — Notifies 1.13 Million Customers

It's the last month of this year, but possibly not the last data breach report. Nissan warns of a possible data breach of personal information on its customers who financed their vehicles through Nissan Canada Finance and INFINITI Financial Services Canada. Although the company says it does not...

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Season May Start Earlier Next Year

Squid fisherman in Argentina have asked regulators to start the squid season earlier in 2018. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven't covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here...

Equifax Says Breach Affects 143 Million Americans

Equifax, one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States, disclosed Thursday afternoon it’s looking into a data breach that may have affected upwards to 143 million Americans. The company said in a statement on its site that cybercriminals managed to exploit an...

July 25, 2017 – Morning Cyber Coffee Headlines – “Henry Ford” Edition

Good morning! Sit with Carbon Black this morning over a cup of coffee or tea and browse a few industry headlines to get the day started. We’ve got just enough information below to get you through that first cup…enjoy! July 25, 2017 - Headlines UK gov wants teens to practice cybersecurity in their...

'Net neutrality' — Save The Internet Before It's Too Late

Perhaps you have heard about "Net Neutrality," and the recent controversies over it in India. But first let’s understand What does Net Neutrality mean? Net Neutrality is simply the Internet Freedom — Free, Fast and Open Internet for all. Net Neutrality is the principle that Internet service...

D.C.'s Complicated View of Cyberwar, Regulation, Liability

MINNEAPOLIS – Lawmakers and politicians trying to equate cyberwar with a kinetic battle are misguided in putting the two on equal footing, said former National Security Agency general counsel Stewart A. Baker today in his keynote at the Cyber Security Summit. “Cyberweapons are not like nuclear...

Consumer Groups Urge FTC to Halt Facebook Data Collection Program

A collection of privacy and consumer groups from the United States and Europe has asked the Federal Trade Commission to force Facebook to suspend a recently installed program that mines information on sites that users’ visit around the Web in order to serve them interest-based ads. The groups say...

Regulators To US Banks: Be Vigilant of ATM Fraud, DDoS

U.S. regulators are warning banks this week about a recent rash of “large dollar value” ATM fraud and the ongoing risks distributed denial of service DDoS attacks that target public bank websites can pose. Members of FFIEC, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, an interagency se...

Japan Keeps PlayStation Network Dark, Citing Security Concerns

Sony’s PlayStation Network began a gradual restoration process on Saturday following a hack that brought about nearly a month of downtime. But in Sony’s home country of Japan, an official says the government will keep the network dark until it is convinced that the company has taken adequate step...

Report: Google May Face $500m Fine Over Rogue Pharma Ads

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that search giant Google is close to reaching a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over an investigation of the company’s policy of running ads from online pharmacies that operate outside U.S. borders and in violation of U.S. law. Google has not made ...

Microsoft Submits Tracking Protection Proposal to W3C

Microsoft has submitted its proposal for web tracking protection to the W3C for consideration as a standard, hoping to get the organization’s stamp of approval for its browser privacy technology. The proposal is in the earliest stages of the process and has not been approved, a process that can...

Anti-computer hacking bill coming in U.S. Congress !

Strengthening cybersecurity is the goal of legislation being introduced in the U.S. Congress after reports of hack attacks on computer networks at Nasdaq OMX Group NDAQ.O and at oil and gas companies. "Cyber-threats are not on the horizon, they are upon us," Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, wh...