The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory describing the Scattered Spider cybercriminal gang’s activities. The group, believed to be unusual both for the relative youth of its members and their native proficiency in English, was responsible for this summer’s compromises of MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment. It also excels at social engineering.
If increases in cyberattacks this year are any indication of what to expect in the next six weeks of holiday shopping, we should expect a massive uptick in holiday-related scams. The expectation by the National Retail Foundation for this year’s holiday shopping is that we will see 4% more spending than last year. This is a slight year over year decrease (as last year saw a 5.4% increase over 2021), but still indicates increases in spending.
When complying with regulations and frameworks, it’s hard to keep up when the rules keep evolving. Auditors are no longer just seeking reports on what your identities can access – they now require proof that you have controls for securing those identities (like a math assignment, you have to show your work). And if a framework or regulation’s requirements previously focused on highly privileged IT users’ access … that’s evolving too.
Digital startup PostMeds Inc., operating as TruePill, is an online pharmacy service based in California. The company allows patients to compare copay pricing, get status notifications on pill orders, and request refills. However, all this may change soon; at the end of October, TruePill endured a severe data breach, landing them in hot water with patients and courts.
Adversaries are becoming more sophisticated and faster with their attacks. According to the CrowdStrike 2023 Threat Hunting Report, the average eCrime breakout time is just 79 minutes. This is partly due to adversaries taking advantage of tools that leverage automation like password-cracking tools, exploit kits for web browser vulnerabilities, and marketplaces that sell stolen data.
Perry Johnson & Associates (PJ&A) is a medical transcription service assisting providers like Cook County Health and Northwell Health. In mid-October, Chicago’s Cook County Health announced a data breach from PJ&A with a limited impact figure. However, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) has confirmed a more significant number than PJ&A initially determined.
Breaches were rampant this week, impacting as many as 15 million individuals. The State of Maine announced that it bled 1.3 million resident records due to the global MOVEit vulnerability. Meanwhile, in Ohio, the City of Huber Heights was targeted by a ransomware attack; potentially, 50,000 residents may have their data exposed. In Michigan, the McLaren Health Care network was allegedly attacked by the ransomware gang BlackCat—losing 2.2 million records to exposure.
Stanford Health Care Alliance encompasses children’s hospitals, care plans, medicine partners, scholars, and the Stanford University faculty. The breach allegedly includes information from Stanford Health Care, Stanford Tri-Valley, Stanford Medicine Partners, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, and Packard Children’s Health Alliance.
In the high-stakes world of cybersecurity, one of the most daunting challenges faced by CISOs is the task of persuading their organization to invest in security capability. But in an age of worker shortages, cost-cutting measures, and a surge in third-party cyber risk at the enterprise level, CISOs need to get this message across urgently.
Get ready to witness a game-changing moment in the world of cybersecurity and passwords! An impressive coalition of over 90 nonprofit organizations, including Consumer Reports and the Better Business Bureau, just dropped a brand-new directive protecting your accounts and devices called “The Common Guidance on Passwords.” This announcement sets the stage for the grand inauguration of “World More Than a Password Day,” which was on November 10, 2023.
