Petronella Cybersecurity News

A giant in the electronic health records industry, Allscripts, reported that they were hit by a ransomware attack recently. Casualties in that attack include data centers in Raleigh and Charlotte, NC. The ransomware attack started in the wee hours of January 18 and had become a major incident by 6:00 that morning. Microsoft, Cisco, and […]

By now you probably know the drill when it comes to ransomware. Don’t open suspicious email attachments and if you do happen to get infected, make sure you have a backup you can restore from. The recent ransomware attack on Hancock Health in Greenfield, Indiana, didn’t go that way. First of all, the infection didn’t […]

With a new year come New Year’s Resolutions. We’ve got a few suggestions for your IT New Year’s Resolutions. They can save you money, headache, and a lot of trouble. If you don’t break them after the first month, of course. New Passwords Are you still using the same password you’ve always used? Are you using a […]

Another year is drawing to a close, and with it comes reflection on the year that was. Let’s dive right into some 2017 cybersecurity stats. Cyberattacks have been climbing and are expected to do so. Experts estimate that the monetary damage from cyberattacks will hit $6 trillion worldwide by 2021. That’s double what it was […]

Would you believe that 50% of all events where the confidentially or availability of an organization’s information is compromised are caused by people within the organizations? Unfortunately, you don’t get to choose because according to the Verizon 2015 Data Breach Investigation Report that’s a simple fact. We’ve talked about insider security breaches before, but what […]

In many cyberattacks the thing that’s stolen isn’t digital currency or money through ransomware, it’s simply information. Most people think of social security and credit card numbers when they think of sensitive information, but a hacker can steal basic things like full names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers and still have a successful haul. […]

We’ve reported plenty of ransomware cases, yet some people still think it couldn’t happen to them. Maybe they’ll think otherwise when it strikes closer to home, which is the case as ransomware hits North Carolina government offices. The government of North Carolina’s most populous county, Mecklenburg, home to Charlotte, suffered a ransomware attack after an […]

If you had a gold coin worth $4.5 million in gold alone, you would be pretty serious about protecting it, right? Well, the Bode Museum in Berlin, Germany thought they were serious about protecting the “Big Maple Leaf” coin. After all, museum heists happen mostly in movies, and this particular coin happens to have a […]

Karim Baratov has pleaded guilty to the massive Yahoo hack that compromised billions of Yahoo accounts in 2014. Baratov, a Canadian citizen born in Kazakhstan, was arrested at his home in Toronto. Baratov has revealed details of his operation. He generally gained access to accounts by spearphishing. Specifically, he would send emails that appeared to come from […]

You may have heard by now that Uber, the ride-sharing company, was hacked last year. It was a data breach that involved the personal information of 57 million users and drivers including names, phone numbers, and email addresses. To make matters worse, Uber didn’t tell anybody about the data breach. The company has taken a number […]

Would you believe that only 35 years ago, China wasn’t even nearly the top manufacturer in the world? In fact, up until the 1970s and 80s, 60% of Chinese citizens worked in agriculture, which meant that the average per capita income was only 1/3rd of sub-Sahara Africa. But then Chinese manufacturing exploded, and so did […]

Do you remember about three months ago when there was talk that Kaspersky Lab may be in cahoots with the Kremlin? It was pretty shocking at the time, and it was a pretty big deal when the Department of Homeland Security decided it was a credible enough threat that they told government agencies they should […]

We’ve told you about how the auto industry has shut off devices that can be installed in cars and used to disable or locate a vehicle if the owner doesn’t make a payment. We’ve told you about dolls that are connected to the internet but were left with security vulnerabilities that could allow a hacker […]

When you go to the hospital, you have faith that you can rely on your medical records, right? That wasn’t the case for Stjepan Tot. Tot died of cancer and, as a lawsuit filed by his estate, wasn’t able to determine when his symptoms first appeared because “his medical records failed to accurately display his […]

In 2013, individuals at Presence Health lost operating room schedules that had the private medical information of patients on them. They discovered the problem and reported the incident to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) like you are required to do, but they made a huge mistake because they […]

Just because non-profits are not profit focused doesn’t mean that they don’t still need money. Just like any business, money is what keeps a non-profit’s doors open. Unlike other businesses though, if a non-profit doesn’t receive enough money then it won’t just be the people it employs in trouble when it has to close down, […]

In a rare public warning, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have issued a report that says since at least May sophisticated hackers have been attacking multiple energy and industrial firms. While the report warned hackers had compromise some networks, it did not get into the specifics of who […]

If you sell cars, then you know a car’s safety is one of the most important features to customers. That’s why the recent Wikileaks “Vault7” leak is a thorn in the side for all auto dealers, but there’s some recent good news that could help you ensure customers that the smart cars you sell won’t […]

You’ve got to admit, it takes guts to target attendees of an international cybersecurity conference with phishing attacks, but that’s just what one hacker group is doing. A cybersecurity conference, the International Conference on Cyber Conflicts, is going to be held November 7 and 8 in Washington, DC and is being put together by the US Military […]

Move over, healthcare industry, hackers have a new easy target: our nation’s schools. Dozens of school districts have been hit by hackers this year alone. It’s the new easy target, as most school systems haven’t felt the need to worry about cybersecurity up to now. Most teachers and administrators aren’t very aware of cybersecurity practices, […]