Every ransomware attack requires the victims to make a hard decision – whether or not to pay the ransom. The decision is often made on the basis of past mistakes – failure to implement basic security (such as not implementing multi-factor authentication), failure to train personnel in recognizing phishing, or…
The Blackbaud Breach In July of this year, Blackbaud, a U.S. based cloud computing provider and one of the world’s largest providers of administration, fundraising, and financial management software, notified its clients that it had discovered and stopped a ransomware attack. In a public statement, Blackbaud described the attack: In…
Leonard Lee of Thomson Reuters Legal Current interviewed Bob Braun, Co-chair of JMBM’s Cybersecurity & Privacy Group for a podcast titled, “Are You Practicing Social Media Hygiene?” Listen to the podcast here. In this brief podcast (18:28 minutes), Bob Braun discusses the risks that both companies and individuals face when…
There’s no question that the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, has created massive disruptions in our lives. Those of us who can work are working remotely, social distancing has become the rule of the day, and while this will end, there is no sure end date in sight. Even some things that…
On August 5, 2019, Marriott International announced that it had taken a $126 million charge in the second quarter, primarily as a result of the data breach it announced in 2018. Coincidentally, on July 9, 2019, The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which enforces the General Data Protection Regulation…
Looking back with the perspective of two years, the Equifax data breach still has many lessons to teach us. Unfortunately, some of the most important lessons are masked by the extremes of the errors that characterized the original breach, which include insider trading by top executives after the breach was…
Written prior to Marriott International’s announcement on November 30, 2018 that a data breach exposed the private data of up to 500 million guests, Robert Braun, co-chair of JMBM’s Cybersecurity & Privacy Group, wrote the article Guest Privacy – It’s Your Business, published by HotelExecutive.com on December 2, 2018. In…
Today’s revelation by Marriott International that a data breach exposed the names and personal details of over 500 million guests sent a shudder throughout the hospitality industry worldwide. Hoteliers know they are an appealing target for hackers as their databases contain identifying and financial information for very large numbers of…
Uber has had a hard time getting data security right. This past week, the ride-sharing company agreed to pay $148 million in a settlement with 50 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia after it intentionally concealed a 2016 data breach. According to the New York Attorney General, it…
Agreeing to ransom terms is a losing proposition; spend your time and energy preparing for an attack. Ransomware attacks are on the rise, partly because of the ease and anonymity of crypto-currencies. In a typical ransomware attack, cyber criminals invade a computer system and encrypt key data, then threaten to…