2 Phishing Attacks Affect Presbyterian Health Plan Members

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee • September 19, 2019

Phishing incidents have had a big impact on members of Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Presbyterian Health Plan in recent weeks. Two separate, apparently unrelated, attacks potentially exposed a wealth of information on plan members.

HIPAA/HITECH

Avoiding Breach Notification Blunders

Latest

Account Takeover

JPMorgan Chase's Accused Hacker Plans to Plead Guilty

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 20, 2019

Russian national Andrei Tyurin, who was extradited last year from Eastern Europe to the United States, has stated that he plans to accept a plea deal he's reached with federal prosecutors. Tyurin has been charged with numerous crimes, including hacking JPMorgan Chase and stealing 83 million customer records.

Fraud Management & Cybercrime

Analysis: Fallout From the Snowden Memoir

Nick Holland • September 20, 2019

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report features a discussion of the controversies surrounding the release of whistleblower Edward Snowden's memoir. Also featured: An update on Lumen PDF's breach disclosure; insights on financial services identity management issues.

Cybercrime

Cryptoming Botnet Smominru Returns With a Vengeance

Jeffrey Burt • September 19, 2019

The crypotmining botnet Smominru, which has been around since at least 2017, has resurfaced with a new campaign that has infected 90,000 devices worldwide, including in the U.S., China and Russia, according to security analysts at Guardicore.

Cybercrime

Supply Chain Attacks: Hackers Hit IT Providers

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 19, 2019

A hacker group called Tortoiseshell has been hitting targets in the Middle East since at least July 2018, apparently targeting IT service providers to gain access to many potential targets at once. The campaign is fresh proof that criminals and nation-state attackers alike continue to favor supply chain attacks.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Adoption of AI Surveillance Technology Surges

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 18, 2019

Governments are rapidly adopting AI surveillance technology to advance political goals, according to a new report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. While Chinese suppliers dominate, liberal democracies and authoritarian regimes alike are developing and procuring such technology.

Governance

Lumin PDF Leak Exposed Data on 24 Million Users

Jeremy Kirk • September 18, 2019

Ignoring a breach disclosure can have ugly consequences. Case in point: Lumin PDF, a PDF editing tool, which saw data for much of its user base - about 24.3 million - published in an online forum late Monday. Data breach expert Troy Hunt says it's sign of the dysfunction in the breach disclosure process.

Governance

Justice Department Sues Snowden Over Memoir

Scott Ferguson • September 18, 2019

The U.S. Justice Department has sued Edward Snowden over his new memoir, claiming that the former NSA contractor violated a nondisclosure agreement he signed when he worked for the government before becoming the world's best-known whistleblower. The suit seeks to collect all profits from the book.

Cybercrime

Researchers: Emotet Botnet Is Active Again

Apurva Venkat • September 17, 2019

Emotet, one of the most powerful malware-spreading botnets, is active again after a four-month absence, according to several security researchers who noticed a surge in activity primarily against U.S., U.K. and German targets starting on Monday.

Anti-Money Laundering (AML)

Report: Encrypted Smartphone Takedown Outed Canadian Mole

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 17, 2019

The Canadian government has arrested a senior intelligence official on charges of working as a mole. He was reportedly unmasked after investigators found someone had pitched stolen secrets to the CEO of Phantom Secure, a secure smartphone service marketed to criminals that authorities shuttered last year.

Cybercrime as-a-service

US Sanctions 3 North Korean Hacking Groups

Jeremy Kirk • September 16, 2019

As part of the U.S. government's continuing efforts to highlight the North Korean government's cyberattacks, the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned three alleged North Korean hacking groups that have been blamed for the WannaCry ransomware, online bank heists and destructive malware attacks.

Governance

Life After Snowden: US Still Lacks Whistleblowing Rules

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 16, 2019

Ahead of the release of Edward Snowden's memoirs chronicling his decision to bring illegal "big data" domestic U.S. surveillance programs to light, a former NSA intelligence specialist points out that the U.S. still lacks a whistleblowing law to protect intelligence workers who spot illegal activity.

Cybercrime

Credit Card Theft Ringleader Pleads Guilty

Scott Ferguson • September 13, 2019

One of the three Ukrainian men charged with leading the notorious Fin7 hacking group, which prosecutors say stole 15 million payment cards, has pleaded guilty to two federal charges.