Intel

More than six years after a data breach that disclosed 2.81 million patients’ protected health information, Banner Health has agreed to pay $1.25 million to the U.S. government to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Campus Safety Magazine recently reported. The Arizona-based healthcare system also agreed to implement changes to better protect patient information.…

2022 was a year that few in the Property and Casualty (P&C) sector could have predicted. Instead of stability, the market remained largely volatile, especially in the Property sector and the reinsurance marketplace. Many carriers suffered through unprofitable years thanks to Hurricane Ian, inflation, and an adverse property insurance environment primarily in Florida and Gulf coast states. Above all, losses…

With inflation driving up costs, increased demand for coupon codes and deals could make shoppers particularly vulnerable to cyber scams this holiday season, according to reports. Cybersecurity experts recently told news outlet Axios that hackers are using heightened interest in online discounts to target consumers for phishing and ransomware scams. Other reports also point to the…

Below we highlight the top 3 trending Cybersecurity Awareness-related intel topics. 1. Trending News Attesting to MFAs, Security Protocols a Key Part of Cyber Protection The necessity for companies to have data security practices in place in order to secure cyber coverage is crucial to managing risk, our experts advise. As…

A major insurance carrier is attempting to rescind a cyber policy based on the client’s alleged misrepresentation of its digital security protocols. According to reports, Travelers recently sought a ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois to rescind its Cyber and Privacy Liability Insurance policy with Illinois-based International Control Services because the company was not…

The voice assistant “Alexa” featured on Amazon’s Echo Dot and other devices has been collecting data on millions of customers without their knowledge and using it for targeted advertising, a new lawsuit against the company alleges. Filed June 8 in the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, the lawsuit seeks class-action status and claims that Amazon…

A virtual “try-on” tool for sunglasses offered by Louis Vuitton collected customers’ facial scan data without their consent, violating the Illinois Biometric Privacy Protection Act, a new lawsuit against the luxury brand alleges. The proposed class-action suit, filed April 8, claims the LVMH corporation’s North America unit took biometric data from online shoppers when they used their webcams to try…

Cryptocurrency’s shift into the mainstream was validated on Super Bowl Sunday, when fans watching the Feb. 13 event were so engaged with a commercial by the cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase that the company’s website temporarily crashed. Coinbase aired a 60-second ad featuring a bouncing QR code that, upon being scanned, brought fans to a promotional site offering $15 in free…

Have you made your New Year’s resolutions? About 44% of adults surveyed in a recent Medifast poll said they planned to set a resolution for 2022, compared to 50% in 2021. Top resolutions for the new year include financial health, holistic health and wellness, and focusing on self-care or body positivity, the survey found. While not everyone will make a…

The U.S. government is working with the private sector to bolster the country’s cybersecurity, the White House recently announced. During a meeting on Aug. 25, President Joe Biden called on companies to “raise the bar on cybersecurity” and outlined a number of initiatives to address the growing threat of cybercrime, including plans for the National Institute of Standards and Technology…

The ransomware attack that shut down one of the largest fuel pipelines in the U.S. and set off gas shortages and panic-buying is indicative of the growing cyber risk threatening American infrastructure, experts said in a recent USA Today report. Colonial Pipeline Co., which moves 2.5 million barrels of petroleum each day, was forced to discontinue operations May 7 after…

More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the relentless pressure on health care workers continues to exact a toll. Just this month, dozens of nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Massachusetts went on strike to protest staffing shortages; a physicians union in Washington state staged protests over alleged safety violations and staffing shortages; and a national nurses union raised…