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//]]>// >By John P. Mello Jr.
May 19, 2021 4:00 AM PT
Claims of losses from cryptocurrency scams skyrocketed from October 2020 to March 2021, according to a report released Monday by the Federal Trade Commission.
In its Consumer Protection Data Spotlight newsletter, the FTC revealed that during the October to March period nearly 7,000 consumers reported losing US$80 million. That compares to only 570 cryptocurrency scam reports amounting to $7.5 million in losses from October 2019 to March 2020.
The median loss reported was about $1,900, a nearly 1,000 percent increase over the same period a year ago.
The agency noted that as the value of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin continue to soar, new investors are eager to get in on the action, and scammers are more than willing to accommodate them.
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//]]>// >By Jack M. Germain
Apr 15, 2021 5:00 AM PT
The larger the Internet superhighway of information grows; the more users get run over by privacy abuses and stolen data. If only we could rebuild the Internet s infrastructure to make data s journey safer and more secure is a common cry of IT and cybersecurity experts.
Some efforts are underway to mitigate the privacy and data theft issues. But despite the occasional proposals that have cropped up over the years to replace the Internet with a new and improved superhighway, current projects are akin to patching potholes and repaving lanes on physical transit roadways.
Apr 28, 2021 4:00 AM PT
A powerful hardware-based threat detection technology is being integrated into a Microsoft enterprise security product to help protect businesses from cryptojacking malware.
The move, which integrates Intel Threat Detection Technology with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, was announced Monday in a blog written by Karthik Selvaraj, principal research manager for Microsoft 365 s Defender Research Team. Microsoft s approach is a good move, observed Dirk Schrader, global vice president for New Net Technologies, a Naples, Fla.-based provider of IT security and compliance software.
He explained that since cryptominers are using a small fraction of the power of many devices, they re often ignored by security teams.
Apr 15, 2021 5:00 AM PT
The larger the Internet superhighway of information grows; the more users get run over by privacy abuses and stolen data. If only we could rebuild the Internet s infrastructure to make data s journey safer and more secure is a common cry of IT and cybersecurity experts.
Some efforts are underway to mitigate the privacy and data theft issues. But despite the occasional proposals that have cropped up over the years to replace the Internet with a new and improved superhighway, current projects are akin to patching potholes and repaving lanes on physical transit roadways.
A recent study from Consumer Reports Digital Lab reveals that 96 percent of Americans agree that more should be done to protect consumer privacy. But don t expect to see a whole new alternative Internet emerging any year soon.
San Diego health care provider Scripps Health struck by ransomware attack
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Scripps Health, a San Diego, California-based health care provider, has been hit by a ransomware attack that took its systems taken offline.
The ransomware attack was detected on May 1 and affected computer systems inside at least two hospitals as well as taking its website and related services offline. The exact details of the form of ransomware attack have not been disclosed but its services remain offline.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the attack also took medical records down, forcing medical personnel to use paper records. Also telemetry, the electronic monitoring of patient vital signs within hospitals, is also said to be down at most sites.