Petronella Cybersecurity News

There’s a reason that the average American household owed over $16,000 in credit card debt last year. Most people rely on their debit and credit cards to make purchases because carrying large amounts of cash around isn’t only an easy way to lose it but is also impractical. There’s another reason why people don’t use […]

By now you are hopefully aware that one of the most disastrous data breaches ever has taken place. Equifax, a major credit bureau, announced recently that they had been they had suffered a data breach just over a month ago. The compromised information includes a lot of sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, addresses, and […]

Since 2016, it has become increasingly obvious that cybercriminals have chosen healthcare providers as their prey of choice.   Since the beginning of 2017, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has reported nearly 200 serious (500+ patients impacted) healthcare breaches, a number that is well on its way to exceeding the 230 breaches reported last […]

Defray, which (ironically enough) means providing money to financially leverage a cost or expense, is also the name of a new, highly-targeted ransomware virus, focusing on victimizing such vulnerable industries as healthcare and education across the US and UK. The sophistication of the highly-customized spear-phishing emails, and the higher-than-average ransom of approximately $5000 in bitcoin, […]

Medical Oncology Hematology Consultants, based in Delaware, has begun the task of notifying its nearly 20,000 patients of a cyberattack that has potentially exposed such private information as their names, DOBs, phone numbers and health/treatment data. Though this cyberattack began on June 17, 2017, it was not discovered until July 7, 2017.  Upon learning of […]

The Instagram data breach is reportedly worse than initially suspected, with not just thousands, but MILLIONS of user accounts being compromised – to the tune of over six million high-profile accounts, including celebrities, athletes, and even politicians. The identity of the hacker (or hackers) is currently unknown, but what is known is that the stolen […]

It seems like we can’t go a day without hearing about something on social media. Whether it’s a viral video or President Trump venting, we are more and more reliant on social media for news and entertainment every passing day. We connect with family and friends, we have discussions, we post pictures, and Facebook pages […]

It’s not available to the general public, but Positive Technologies, a Russian cybersecurity firm, has figured out how to exploit a privilege available only to governments that involves shutting down the CPU’s Management Engine master controller. What does all that mean? Well, ME is part of the processor, which means it can’t ever be fully shut […]

As the old saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. When it comes to cybersecurity, you might not even be in charge of your weakest link. Radiology Center, a third-party partner of the McLaren Medical Group, was notified that their computer system had been hacked. They discovered that a number […]

The IRS is after you, and they want you to fill out an FBI questionnaire. So says a new phishing scam, anyway. The email reads as follows: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The government agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury. The […]

Hong Kong zombie stocks are on the rise, and thanks to hackers they’ve never been more dangerous. Confused? Don’t worry, we will explain. In all stories involving zombies, the threat begins when a virus turns someone who should be dead into a walking carrier of the virus. The carrier spreads the virus when it tries […]

“There is a connection between Kaspersky and Russian intelligence, and I’m absolutely certain that Russian intelligence would want to use that connection to their advantage.” “I don’t use Kaspersky Lab products… I would not [advise my family to use it].” Those quotes are from former deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell and Trump administration […]

Stolen credit card data can go for up to 15¢. Stolen medical records can net anywhere from $30 to $500, and that’s why you’re going to see more and more cyberattacks on medical facilities. Eerie County Medical Center was recently hit with ransomware. Instead of paying the requested $44,000, they unplugged for six weeks. CBS […]

When a company or organization is hit by a ransom ware attack, there are a slew of questions that need to be answered. How did the hackers breach the network? How much data has been lost? What do we do to make sure this never happens again? Of course these questions need to be answered […]

Locky is a ransomware that seems to be an intermittent threat. It’s here for a while, infecting computers in a flurry, then it disappears for a while. Then a new iteration pops up later, and it, too, disappears. Well, Locky’s back again, this time in two forms. Locky looked to be a big threat for a […]

We’ve constantly preached that cybercriminals were going to evolve their methods, and the cows have come home. We recently told you about a new type of malware that works around detection by loading itself directly to a computer’s memory instead of as a file, and now we’ve got some more bad news for you. You […]

Have you ever thought about the ramifications of having a data breach compromise the personal data of your clients? In the past you could issue an apology, make a note about beefing up cybersecurity, buy some credit protection for affected people and call it a day. Not anymore. Now you could be facing a lawsuit. […]

If you’ve kept up with your cybersecurity news, then you know that the medical industry has a long road ahead of itself if that number is going to go down in 2017. For example, did you know that on average there was one health records breach every day in 2016? What about that the month […]

A report surfaced yesterday that a leading anti-malware product was leaking terabytes of data. Among its clients are some of the top 100 companies in the US. According to the report by DirectDefense, Carbon Black’s Cb Response is leaking all kinds of sensitive data, including usernames/passwords, cloud and app store keys, and various trade secrets. The […]

If you haven’t been living with the stone men in Old Valyria, you’ve probably heard of the megahit TV show Game of Thrones, which is HBO’s biggest cash cow right now. (And no, if you aren’t a hardcore viewer of the show, you probably won’t get that joke.) Regardless of where you live, you may […]