Happy New Year to all! Hopefully you’ve enjoyed some rest and relaxation. Be sure to conserve some of that energy for RSA Conference, which is now only eight weeks away.
The dawn of 2020 has birthed a variety of predictions for the year to come. With the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) officially taking effect this week and three other states launching new data breach notification requirements, privacy will likely be a hot topic across all sectors of the industry. Despite these and other pending regulations, some believe that consumers will sacrifice privacy in order to access free online services.
Though it’s been a relatively quiet week, reports of data breaches are rolling in and Microsoft is making headway in its efforts to combat cyberthreats from North Korea. Here’s a look at what’s been happening while many of us have been cleaning up confetti and gift wrappings.
Jan. 3: Mastercard makes a move to augment its cybersecurity strategy with the acquisition of RiskRecon, an AI and data analytics startup.
Jan. 2: Foreign-currency seller Travelex was knocked offline after a cyberattack on New Year’s Eve, the BBC reported.
Jan. 2: In response to concerns that “hacking skills developed for U.S. spy services are being sold abroad with scant oversight,” Congress passed new legislation requiring the State Department “to report to Congress within 90 days on how it controls the spread of cyber tools and to disclose any action it has taken to punish companies for violating its policies,” Reuters reported.
Jan. 2: A Ryuk ransomware infection reportedly caused widespread operational disruption to the network of a Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) facility, leaving the US Coast Guard on high alert.
Jan. 1: Facebook is facing a $1.6 million fine issued by Brazil’s Department of Consumer Protection for “improperly sharing user data with Cambridge Analytica,” The Hill reported.
Dec. 31: Shortly after the US Navy prohibited the use of TikTok on government issued phones, the Pentagon deemed the TikTok brand a cyber threat. Now, the US Army has also banned soldiers from using the app.
Dec. 31: After suffering a data breach in late 2019, Wawa is facing a class action lawsuit claiming that the company “failed to secure its computer systems from hackers who installed malware that potentially affected Wawa’s payment systems.”
Dec. 31: “The medical device market is expected to reach an estimated $432.6 billion by 2025 … The major drivers for market growth are increasing healthcare expenditure, technological development, growing aging population, and chronic diseases,” according to PR Newswire.
Dec. 30: An Elasticsearch database owned by Wyze Labs, an Internet of Things (IoT) company that makes smart home cameras and other connected devices, inadvertently leaked the personal information of 2.4 million users.
Dec. 30: Microsoft filed a case in a US District Court against a threat group known as Thallium, which resulted in “a court order enabling Microsoft to take control of 50 domains that the group uses to conduct its operations. With this action, the sites can no longer be used to execute attacks.”