The tech, law enforcement, and privacy worlds are abuzz with the recent decision by Apple to refuse to help the FBI crack the security on an iPhone, even though the iPhone in question belonged to an alleged terrorist/mass murderer. As fascinating and important as that story is, I was even more interested in another cybersecurity story, about a hospital paying ransom to hackers in order to regain access to its own computer systems. This was not the first such occurrence, and it won't be the last.
malware
See the following -
Ransomware Costs N.Y. Hospital Nearly $10M
Steven Porter | Health Leaders Media | July 28, 2017
A hospital that lost control of its computers last spring when hackers unleashed ransomware on its systems has paid nearly $10 million recovering in the past few months. The hackers had demanded nearly $30,000 worth of bitcoin as ransom, but officials with Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, New York, declined, knowing there would be no guarantee that the attackers would fully remove their malicious software once paid off, The Buffalo News reported Wednesday.
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Report Highlights Positive Elements of U.S. Government Open Source Adoption
By Mark Bohannon | October 9, 2015
I think we've all read our fair share of reports about lessons learned and the challenges and opportunities for governments taking up open source software. Frankly, many of them seem a bit dry, and often repetitive. But one study I recently came across (that has not received much media coverage) stood out. Its predicate was different that most, recognizing the positive: open source software (OSS) "is being used in [the U.S.] government, as well as being released by the government (as both minor improvements and whole new projects), and the government is receiving benefits from doing so. However, many in government are unaware of this." In short, it appears to find the glass half filled—or better—rather than half empty...
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Secret Service Explores A Unified System To Manage Smartphones, Tablets
Katherine McIntire Peters | Nextgov | May 30, 2013
The Secret Service is considering adopting a mobile device management system and apps store to better handle employee smartphones and tablets running a variety of operating systems, including BlackBerry, Android, iOS and Windows 8, according to a request for information agency officials posted Thursday. Read More »
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So Many Android Devices. Too Few Updates.
Robert Vamosi | Computerworld | May 28, 2013
Only 25 percent of Android handsets have Jelly Bean installed, according to developer.android.com. But nearly ten months after its initial release, shouldn't that adoption figure for Google's latest and most secure Android OS be much higher, especially given all the malware now targeting Androids? Like most things it's complicated. Read More »
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So...Is Paying Ransom What Bitcoin Is For?
By Kim Bellard | February 19, 2016
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Stallman: How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand?
Richard Stallman | Wired | October 14, 2013
The current level of general surveillance in society is incompatible with human rights. To recover our freedom and restore democracy, we must reduce surveillance to the point where it is possible for whistleblowers of all kinds to talk with journalists without being spotted. To do this reliably, we must reduce the surveillance capacity of the systems we use. Read More »
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Storming the Government Castle
By Scott Nesbitt | April 12, 2016
Open source software seems like a perfect fit for government IT projects. Developers can take advantage of existing code bases and, it's hoped, mold that code to their needs quickly and at less cost than developing code from scratch. Over the last few years, governments in the U.S. and abroad have been more closely embracing open source. However, agencies at all levels of U.S. government are still wary of open source and can be reluctant to adopt it. It's still not easy for government projects to use open source or for developers employed in the public sector to contribute their work to open source project...
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Target Breach: Are Pharmacy Records Safe?
Jake Anderson | Twin Cities Business | January 16, 2014
Target has not indicated that pharmacy records were exposed, although some say the recent data breach amplifies concerns about “medical identity theft” at retail chains with pharmacies. Read More »
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Technology Breakdowns A Core Strategic Concern For Hospitals
Russ Banham | Healthcare Finance News | May 21, 2014
Not just a hurricane or tornado can shut down the IT infrastructure; man-made attacks threaten as well
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The Goldilocks Problem of Mobile Security - Usability vs. Security
By Simon Hartley | November 22, 2019
The “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” story begins with a girl tasting porridge. The first bowl is too hot, the second is too cold, and the third is “just right.” This article considers mobile device security for government and organizations. The theme is trade-offs between the usability of a mobile device and security for confidential organizational data such as conversations, messages, documents, images, and locations. The security, confidentiality, and integrity of communication are key. However, if the usability of mobile devices for end-users, administrators, and organizations is too challenging, then the availability of the data for productive work is lost.
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The New Bioterrorism? The Hacked Medical Device
Jane Sarasohn-Kahn | The Health Care Blog | October 23, 2012
A time-and-technology challenged FDA, proliferation of software-controlled medical devices in and outside of hospitals, and growth of hackers have resulted in medical technology that’s riddled with malware. Furthermore, lack of security built into the devices makes them ripe for hacking and malfeasance. Read More »
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The NSA Can Get You Offline, Too -- With Radio Waves
Sara Morrison | Nextgov | January 15, 2014
Remember how we thought/hoped that keeping our computer offline would protect us from NSA snooping? Well, it won't! According to the New York Times' latest report from the Snowden files, the NSA has developed technology (under the Quantum code name, also used for those malware attacks) that can access computers through radio waves. Read More »
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The Spooky Side of Healthcare Cybercrime and Steps to Protect Your Data
John Trader | Healthcare IT News | October 31, 2012
Although we all applaud the massive push towards electronic health records (EHRs) and the digitization of medical information, there are some very tangible cybercrime data breach threats that exist which could topple the momentum gained by the launch of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) two and half years ago. Two recently released reports (Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report and FireEye’s Advanced Threat Report) suggest that the proportion of healthcare data breaches is rising fast, the largest majority targeting patient personal and payment information (including patient health and insurance data) that attackers can directly or indirectly use to make a profit...
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Threat Matrix: Malware And Hacking Pose Dangers To Medical Devices
Mike Miliard | Healthcare IT News | May 24, 2013
'We’re starting to attach medical devices to electronic health records, and they’re not secure.' Read More »
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Three US Hospitals Hit by Ransomware
Staff Writer | BBC | February 23, 2016
The IT systems of three US hospitals have been infected with ransomware, which encrypts vital files and demands money to unlock them. The systems, at Kentucky Methodist Hospital, Chino Valley Medical Center and Desert Valley Hospital, California, are now running normally again. None of the hospitals is believed to have paid the ransom. And the cases are now being investigated by the FBI...
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