organized crime

Medical Information on Millions Stolen from Premera Blue Cross

In-brief: Premera Blue Cross said on Tuesday that it was the victim of a sophisticated attack. The hackers had access to Premera’s network for more than six months, stealing information on as many as 11 million members and employees. 

Digital ‘Exhaust’ may be the biggest Internet of Things Worry | WIRED

In-brief: digital ‘exhaust’ emitted by Internet of Things technologies may pose the biggest risk to personal privacy and security a researcher warns. 

SMEs Face Advanced Threat Sophistication Gap

In-brief: Cisco Vice President Scott Harrell says that small and mid-sized organizations are in the crosshairs of sophisticated cyber criminals. Unfortunately, such firms often lack the tools and skills to identify and contain such threats.

Was Malware Behind A Billion Dollar Heist?

In-brief: The New York Times reports on a massive online heist involving more than 100 banks worldwide and losses of between $300 million and $1 billion, according to the security firm Kaspersky Lab. 

Obama Signing

U.S. Sanctions 10 For Sony Hack, Keeps Mum on Evidence

  As the New York Times reports, the Obama administration doubled down on its recent allegation that the Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea (DPRK) was behind the hacking of Sony Pictures, announcing sanctions on 10 senior North Korean officials and several organizations in response to the incident. Paradoxically, the administration acknowledged that there is no evidence that the 10 officials took part in either ordering or planning the Sony attack. Instead, they described them as “central to a number of provocative actions against the United States,” the Times reported. Those ‘provocative actions’ were not described. The actions mirror the Administration’s controversial decision, in May, to charge five Chinese military officers in May, 2014, for their connection to computer hacking and cyber espionage campaigns directed at U.S. firms in the nuclear power, metals and solar products industries. In the case of the Chinese nationals, however, the FBI cited evidence linking the five military officers to […]