Petronella Cybersecurity News

Raleigh Orthopedic Clinic (ROC) of North Carolina is paying for its violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Privacy Rule, for allegedly sharing private and protected patient information with a potential business partner. $750,000, to be exact. The Office of Civil Rights (a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human […]

The “Mega-hacks” of major health care industry players like Anthem, Inc and Premera Blue Cross, that were so popular in early 2016, seem to be giving way to attacks on smaller, more vulnerable businesses. A good example of this trend can be seen in the most recent industry breach of an 11-physician practice in Katy, […]

Since 2010, the number of data breaches in the healthcare industry has been steadily on the rise. Consequently, a new study out by the Ponemon Institute has found that such breaches will end up costing the industry 6.2 billion dollars. The source of the breaches? Employees. According to the study, the thing that most organizations […]

In an attempt to update dental procedure codes, the American Dental Association may have inadvertently infected thousands of dental offices across the United States with malware. As part of a mailer sent to ADA members, the thumb drives were intended to contain codes that offices use to keep track of procedures for billing and insurance […]

It appears there’s a new form of ransomware that was clearly created by hackers who are fans of the movie “Saw”. Going by the name Jigsaw, not only does it encrypt files and ask for money to unlock them, it also begins to delete your files while raising the ransom demand. Taking its name from the […]

Hackers were able to get into the systems of the Bangladesh central bank and steal $81 million dollars thanks to one of the most ridiculous security lapses ever seen: cheap routers. After being alerted to a data breach in February, law enforcement realized that not only were the bank’s computers connected to the SWIFT global […]

In the past year ransomware attacks, malware that encrypts files then demands payment in Bitcoins to get a key to unlock them, have not only increased in number of attacks, but also the types of organizations hit. Medical facilities have been a big target. Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles paid about $17,000 to hackers […]

There’s been a recent rash malware that utilizes JavaScript-based downloaders to install ransomware on victims’ computers. Like most ransomware, it then encrypts their files and demands payment in Bitcoins to get a key to unlock them. It’s pretty unusual for anyone to send a Javascript attachment, so users should be on the lookout for any […]

With technology advancing so rapidly there’s sure to be an impact on medicine. Already we are seeing advancements in how people collect health data; how to prevent, detect, and treat illness; and there are fundamental changes in how and where treatment is given. Here are eight technologies to watch in order to see how they […]

According to the FBI, instance of CEO fraud are dramatically on the rise. Costing businesses an estimated $2.3 billion over the past three years, victims are usually duped by scammers who impersonate a company’s CEO via email then have money wired to the criminals’ account. Typically this type of attack starts with either sending a […]

Now that smart phones have become ubiquitous to our daily lives, making everything from banking to turning on the lights more convenient, it’s not surprising that the healthcare industry is trying to utilize this technology to provide better patient care by giving doctors information in real time. Unfortunately that convenience may come at the price […]

A new version of ransomware called Locky infected Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Kentucky.  The hospital put itself on an internal state of emergency after the malware took over their system. Locky isn’t very different from other ransomware, but it’s used by criminal network Dridex, which is causing it to spread very quickly. The Locky ransomware infects a single computer spreads to connected […]

A new method of identity theft spoofs a CEO’s email address to trick an employee into sending W-2 information to hackers.  One recent victim of this fraud was Pennsylvania Main Line Health. 11,000 employees of the hospital and health center network had sensitive information stolen by hackers.  The company was unaware of the hack until the FBI […]

Your medical or healthcare practice is in grave danger, and you probably don’t even know it.  Any random thief can spend less than $100 and get the keys to your network. The breach could cost you millions and make your patients run for the hills. The same kind of attack cost Target $162 million.  Home […]

The Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, California was recent hit with ransomware and paid 40 bitcoins, the equivalent of $16,664, to get their network back. When the attack occurred on February 5, the hospital immediately informed IT security and law enforcement agencies.  While the computer network was locked down, however, the hospital had to […]

As Apple developed HealthKit, the Federal Trade Commission raised concerns about what would happen to users’ data. Commissioners became satisfied that Apple’s privacy policy would prevent app developers from sharing info with third parties. Craig Petronella, who heads up Petronella Technology Group, Inc., in Wake County, says there are still steps that should be taken […]

The North Carolina Department of Information Technology which oversees the state’s cybersecurity insisted in a statement that their sites are not vulnerable. They also said when they became aware of the issue, they developed a plan to address the concerns. They are not aware of any information being compromised, according to the state and that […]

[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]Need info about your business competitors?  Revenge on a cheating ex?  Everyone from jilted lovers to law firms has hired freelance hackers. The […]

[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text] As much as we hear about the major cyberattacks against large corporations and even governments, the majority of cyberattacks are carried out […]

[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]Hilton appears to be the most recent victim of POS malware responsible for stealing the credit card of information of customers.  In this […]