RSS_Virtulization

The White House is reportedly moving swiftly forward with a plan to harden the security of the US power grid against hacking attacks. According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration has a plan to dramatically improve how power utilities defend themselves against attacks from countries considered to be adversaries in cyberspace – such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China. The six-page draft plan, drawn up by the National Security Council, is said to provide incentives…

The UK’s quest for unhindered data flows to and from the EU took another important step forward yesterday after the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) approved the Commission’s draft adequacy decisions. Adequacy decisions are the process by which the European Union decides whether countries outside the bloc offer an adequate level of protection for the data of EU citizens. They are critical to granting seamless data flows between the EU and so-called “third countries”  like the…

A Florida man has been sentenced to a decade behind bars after investigators discovered $3.3 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for genetic cancer testing that patients didn’t need. Ivan Andre Scott, 36, of Kissimmee, was convicted by a federal jury in January on one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, three counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive unlawful healthcare kickbacks, and three counts of receiving unlawful…

Organizations are spotting attackers inside their networks faster than ever before, although the figure for “dwell time” may have been influenced by a surge in ransomware attacks, according to Mandiant. The FireEye-owned forensic specialist’s M-Trends 2021 report was compiled from investigations of targeted attack activity between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020. It revealed that 59% of organizations detected attackers within their own environments over the period, a 12-percentage point increase on the previous…

Strategies CISOs need to put in place to deal with a rising volume of attacks were discussed by a panel of security leaders during a webinar. Set up by cybersecurity firm F-Secure, the session was built upon the latest findings from its CISOs’ New Dawn report, which surveyed 28 senior information security leaders across the US, UK and Europe about how their roles have changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion began…

The actions come in response to a months-long U.S. investigation into the Russian hacking campaign, often referred to as SolarWinds after a software used to infiltrate nine federal agencies and about 100 private companies. The breach continued for months before the private cybersecurity firm FireEye tipped off the software company and law enforcement. The Washington Post first reported that Russian foreign intelligence was believed to be behind the campaign. Story continues below advertisement “Our view…

As the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has delayed the deadline for its annual Tax Day, US citizens have been given a bit more time to get their taxes in order. However, this delay has also given cybercriminals additional time to prepare their tax-themed phishing lures. At the end of March, the IRS issued a security alert in which it warned of an ongoing email-based impersonation campaign targeting education institutions as well college students and staff…

On March 17, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department announced the extension of the federal income tax filing due date from April 15, 2021 to May 17, 2021. This decision is designed “to help taxpayers navigate the unusual circumstances related to the pandemic,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig explained in a news release. But it also carries the unwanted consequence of giving scammers more time to use the urgency of a looming…

Where were you when you first heard about the SolarWinds breach? It’s not unusual for information security professionals to learn about a breach. Keeping track of the news is part of the job. The SolarWinds attack, however, was different for two primary reasons.  First, it reached the level of mainstream news. The majority of breaches stay mostly in the industry press. Only a few break into the now-mislabeled ‘evening news.’ Prior to this event, the average…