Tag: breach

Cyber Attacks / Cyber Breach / Cybersecurity / White House

Senator Seeks Answers from President on White House Cyber Attack

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, John Thune, has sent an open letter to President Obama to address the cyber attack on the White House’s unclassified computer system in late-2014. The breach, allegedly by Russian hackers, was according to Senator Thune “more extensive than previously known,” and accessed “a great deal of sensitive information, such as schedules, policy discussions, and e-mails sent and received by” Mr. Obama, “including exchanges with ambassadors.” Following increased attacks across Executive Branch departments and agencies, Mr.… Continue Reading
Class Action / Cyber Attacks / Cyber Breach / Lawsuit

Target to Change Security Policies and Pay $10 Million to Settle Data Breach Lawsuit

U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson has indicated that he will grant preliminary approval of a 97-page settlement agreement between Target and class-action plaintiffs.  Under the settlement, Target will pay $10 million to compensate injured customers, with court documents suggesting as much as $10,000 for a victim. In total, 42 million shoppers had their credit or debit information stolen, and 61 million had personal data stolen from November 27 through December 18, 2013. The settlement also requires Target to change its security policies within 10… Continue Reading
Cyber Attacks / Cybersecurity

Hacker Gains Control of German Steel Mill Operations

The  German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has issued a report revealing that a sophisticated hacker was able to take control of a steel mill’s computerized production system, forcing an unscheduled shut-down that caused “massive damage” to the physical plant. By using targeted emails, known as “spear phishing,” employees were tricked into opening messages that extracted login names and passwords and transmitted that information to the hacker without detection. The hacker, in turn, used the data to gain limited control of the… Continue Reading
Cyber Attacks / Cybersecurity

Cybsersecurity Starts at the Top

This summer, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), made up of the FED Board of Governors and FDIC, among others, conducted a Cybersecurity Assessment at over 500 community financial institutions to evaluate their ability to handle cyber risks.  While the data is still being analyzed in order to assist with future guidance and regulations, last month the FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment’s “General Observations” were released. What is striking about the General Observations, which are not to be construed as guidance, is that they call out… Continue Reading
Class Action / Cyber Attacks / Cybersecurity / Lawsuit

Can Companies Pre-Emptively Avoid Class Action Suits from Massive Data Breaches? (A Blog Series)

There’s a constant flow of news about massive data breaches nowadays.  So much so that the question for companies with large amounts of personal data storage is no longer “if” it can happen but “when” it will happen.  In this series, we’re going to discuss one method that larger companies are using to significantly reduce the risk exposure to massive data breaches: click-wrap terms of use that require users to waive participation in class actions and instead only pursue claims by way of arbitration or… Continue Reading
Cyber Attacks / Cybersecurity

Breach of U.S. Public Utility

The Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) advised in its quarterly report that an unnamed public utility was compromised after attackers took advantage of a weak password security system by using brute force techniques by trying on various passwords until they hit the right one. This may come as no surprise to some as the vulnerability of the U.S. power grid to electronic attack has been known since the 1990’s. Factors contributing to this increasing danger include the shift… Continue Reading