Tag Archives: Ransomware

DSIR Deeper Dive: The Ransomware Epidemic

David KitchenAnthony P. ValachBy David Kitchen and Anthony P. Valach on Posted in Data Security Incident Response
Ransomware is among the most common and persistent threats faced by organizations of all sizes. In 2019, the ransomware threat landscape worsened in several significant ways: (1) average demands increased more than tenfold; (2) all industry segments saw increases in attack frequency, with stark increases seen by education and government entities; and (3) several threat … Continue Reading

Threat Actors are Finding New Ways to Commoditize Data

David PotterAnthony P. ValachBy David Potter and Anthony P. Valach on Posted in Cybersecurity
While all businesses continue to adjust to the remote work environment, it’s business as usual for cybercriminals. Although there are reports of phishing schemes tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not really seeing different types of incidents or new tactics from the threat actors. Incident volume has increased slightly, but we are not seeing … Continue Reading

Healthcare Providers Remain Targets for Ransomware Attacks in the Midst of COVID-19 Pandemic

Benjamin WangerSara GoldsteinBy Benjamin Wanger and Sara Goldstein on Posted in Ransomware
Although it was widely reported that several ransomware threat actor groups have pledged to not target healthcare providers until the COVID-19 pandemic is over, BakerHostetler’s Digital Assets and Data Management Practice Group and Healthcare Privacy and Compliance team continue to see ransomware attacks launched against healthcare providers. In order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare … Continue Reading

Best Cybersecurity Practices for Healthcare Organizations – Ransomware Prevention

Aleksandra VoldKathryn CareyBy Aleksandra Vold and Kathryn Carey on Posted in HHS, HIPAA/HITECH, Phishing, Ransomware
This article is part of a series of blog posts exploring the recommendations and guidance Health & Human Services (HHS) provides to healthcare organizations in its “Cybersecurity Best Practices” report. For previous articles in the series, click here. The report on cybersecurity best practices (Report) is not the first time HHS has discussed the prevalent … Continue Reading

Recent OCR Newsletter Highlights Growing Cyber Extortion Threat for Healthcare Organizations

Lynn SessionsKathryn CareyBy Lynn Sessions and Kathryn Carey on Posted in Cybersecurity
The OCR’s January 2018 newsletter details specific types of cyber extortion that healthcare organizations are currently encountering, including ransomware, denial of service attacks, distributed denial of service attacks and theft of protected health information (PHI). Each type of attack poses unique challenges that may affect an organization in different ways. However, all cyber extortion disrupts … Continue Reading

Ways to Prevent & Prepare for Ransomware Attacks

BakerHostetlerBy BakerHostetler on Posted in Ransomware
Ransomware was involved in 10 percent of the 450 breaches handled by our Privacy and Data Protection team in 2016. This week’s news about a global ransomware attack is another example that this trend is on the rise. Companies, governments and organizations around the world are grappling with what steps they should take to minimize … Continue Reading

Deeper Dive: Ransomware – WannaCry and the Future of Ransomware-as-a-Service

Melinda L. McLellanJames A. ShererBy Melinda L. McLellan and James A. Sherer on Posted in Cybersecurity, Data Breaches, Incident Response, Ransomware
In our 2017 BakerHostetler Data Security Incident Response Report, we addressed the increasingly ubiquitous scourge of ransomware, one of the fastest-growing types of malware causing data security incidents. We noted that ransomware attacks have been steadily expanding in both frequency and severity, and that those trends seemed set to continue for the foreseeable future. Less than a … Continue Reading

Deeper Dive: Forensics

Patrick H. HaggertyBy Patrick H. Haggerty on Posted in Cybersecurity
A company’s ability to quickly and efficiently conduct a forensic investigation is critical to limiting the impacts of a data security incident and determining the scope of the incident. In BakerHostetler’s 2017 Data Security Incident Response Report, we analyzed data from the more than 450 incidents we worked on in 2016. A forensic investigation occurred … Continue Reading

Deeper Dive: Incorporating Incident Response Into Disaster Recovery Plans

M. Scott KollerBy M. Scott Koller on Posted in Cybersecurity, Ransomware
Incident response and disaster recovery are both essential components of a comprehensive written information security program. However, too often these plans are implemented in a vacuum, without considering the potential synergies and improvements that can be gained when such plans are developed, deployed and tested together. Incident response and disaster recovery tend to have the … Continue Reading

Crowdsourcing Cybersecurity in 2017

Craig A. HoffmanBy Craig A. Hoffman and Erich Falke on Posted in Cybersecurity, Ransomware
BakerHostetler began publishing its Data Security Incident Response Report in 2015. Although we were the first law firm to do so, inspiration for the report came from similar reports that cybersecurity firms issue. We will be publishing our 2017 Report on April 13, 2017, containing statistics and insights from the 450+ incidents we led clients … Continue Reading

Data Breach Trends — 2016: the Year of Ransomware

M. Scott KollerBy M. Scott Koller on Posted in Ransomware
Over the past year, the BakerHostetler Incident Response team has closely monitored data breach trends, and we are confident in concluding that 2016 was the year of ransomware. Nothing has had a greater impact or has been as widespread in 2016 than ransomware. From a hospital in California to a police department in Massachusetts, ransomware … Continue Reading

A Closer Look at the OCR’s Guidance on Ransomware

M. Scott KollerBy M. Scott Koller on Posted in HIPAA/HITECH, Medical Privacy
In the wake of several high-profile ransomware infections targeting hospitals and health care organizations, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued guidance on the growing threat of ransomware. Ransomware is a type of malware that denies access to systems and data. It uses strong cryptography to encrypt files … Continue Reading
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