Cybersecurity

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It is fitting that on the first day of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, new legislation takes effect regarding one of the most destructive types of malware.  In response to the rapidly increasing rate of computer extortion cases, the Connecticut Legislature has joined several states in creating a statute specifically targeting ransomware. Ransomware is a type of…

Just last week, a Verizon Communications vendor misconfigured a cloud server that caused the information of 6 million Verizon customers to be exposed on-line. When a cyber incident or data breach occurs on your vendor’s watch, regardless of fault, you own the resulting legal obligations and costs. The best tools for managing the risk of using vendors are due diligence and adequate contract provisions.
Continue Reading Protecting Data: Vendors May Be Your Weakest Link

Data breaches have become commonplace in every industry. In health care, however, it costs much more to respond to a data breach than in all other industries in this country, according to the results of a recent IBM-sponsored study.1  The report estimates that a health care data breach costs $380 per record on average versus $225 per record in other industries. While the increased cost of a health care record is unavoidable due to the sensitive nature of the information and the fact that it is more valuable to criminals on the dark web, health care providers can take steps to prepare for a data breach, which can reduce the risk of a breach occurring and minimize costs if one occurs.
Continue Reading Data Breaches Most Expensive For Health Care Industry But Precautionary Measures Can Keep Costs Down

On Friday, May 12, 2017, a damaging ransomware attack swept across more than one hundred countries and infected tens of thousands of computers. As is becoming all too common, the hackers transmitted the ransomware via a phishing e-mail, and then, once the user clicked the bait, the hackers used a method thought to have been developed by the National Security Agency, and locked businesses out of their systems. The ransomware impacted businesses both large and small, notably including sixteen of Great Britain’s hospitals forcing them to turn patients away, FedEx, the Russian Interior Ministry and a large Spanish telecommunications company. While in the wake of the attack, affected businesses must focus on damage control and clean-up, unaffected businesses should react and take steps to protect themselves ahead of being on the receiving end of the next cyber incident. Accordingly, here are five things that all businesses can do.
Continue Reading Five Things You Can Do to Protect Your Business From a Cyber Attack