The Cyber Skim: Top Monthly Articles for November 2019

by Dawn Dunkerley
Contributing Editor

Security pros explain Black Friday best practices for consumers and businesses – TechRepublic

Consumers have to make sure not to fall prey to fraudulent coupons or deceptively spoofed retailer websites. Strong Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales crush fears of retail apocalypse but not cyber security concerns. The holiday shopping season is off to a record breaking start but analysts are reminding consumers to play it safe online. 

Editor’s note: Practicing good cyber hygiene year-round is a must, but an interesting tidbit to note from this article is that credit card companies are less likely to catch malicious transactions from stolen card info during the holiday season due to the sheer amount of traffic.

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How Many Types of Hackers Are There? – Security Boulevard

If you are a tech savvy person, you may have been called a “hacker” at some point by someone less technical. Maybe you’ve heard of growth hackers and life hacks. These are not the droids we’re looking for.

Editor’s note: Hackers are not one-size-fits-all. This article is a good primer on the differences, and why being a “hacker” isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

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French Hospital Offline After Ransomware Attack – Silicon UK

French hospital in Rouen forced to use pen and paper, after ransomware knocked out computers and servers A hospital in France has been hit by a ransomware attack that knocked its computer systems offline, forcing staff to resort to good old-fashioned pen and paper.

Editor’s note: To add insult to injury, recent studies have shown patients are more likely to die in hospitals recovering from a data breach or ransomware attack (https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/11/study-ransomware-data-breaches-at-hospitals-tied-to-uptick-in-fatal-heart-attacks/).

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Expert: Over 4,000 credit cards used for Dothan payments hacked – WTVY, Dothan

Dothan, AL (WTVY)– The city of Dothan claims it does not yet know how many credit and debit cards used to make online utilities payments have been compromised. City IT Director Jack Mason is awaiting that information from Click2Gov, a portal that processes online payments.

Editor’s note: The city apparently didn’t know it had been breached until citizens’ credit cards had started being used, and the city subsequently did an abysmal job of notifying the public. Another great reminder to keep an eye on your credit card transactions monthly.

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Target Seeks $74M in Data Breach Reimbursement from Insurance Company – Dark Reading

Target has paid banks $138 million to settle claims made by banks stemming from the retailer’s massive 2013 data breach. Of that total, $74 million has not been reimbursed by the company’s insurers, and now Target has gone to court to force insurance companies to pay up.

Editor’s note: This will be a great test of whether cyber insurers can be forced to pay up after a breach. Most of the policies we see have holes big enough to drive a truck through, yet assumptions are made that they’ll cover you in a time of loss.

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Half of Q3 DDoS attacks happened in September – ITP.net

In the third quarter of 2019, the number of DDoS attacks rose by a third compared to the previous period) and Q3 2018 according to statistics gathered from Kaspersky DDoS Protection.

Editor’s note: We hear so much about ransomware and breaches that we forget about good ol’ Denial of Service. Kaspersky attributes the uptick in September to schools coming back into session, as the majority of victims were education and academic journal sites. 

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