Monthly Archives: April 2017

Utilities & Cyber Security. 3 Reasons Utilities Say CyberSecurity is the #1 issue.

The survey of utility professionals: Utility Dive’s fourth annual State of the Electric Utility Survey, surveying more than 600 utility professionals

The #1 most pressing issue facing utility companies: cyber and physical security 

what you need to know:

  • In 2015 & 2016 cyber and physical security was the 6th most pressing issue for utilities
  • Increased media attention to cyber threats has raised the issue’s importance
  • How the issues ranked as very important to the companies surveyed:
    • cyber…

Regulatory Trend. Election Hacking Unit. 3 Key Points for your state.

The U.K. Parliament is working to create an election hacking unit that:

  • The unit’s goal: help ensure the integrity of UK Democracy & public confidence
  • The unit will be monitoring only
  • Recommendations focus on an executive level, law enforcement driven unit

SC Magazine UK | Parliamentary committee proposes unit to combat ‘election hacking’

Lege Trend. Exception to Data Notification.

Trendy new exception to data breach notifications: encrypted data

How Tennesee worded the exception in its legislation: 

(1) “Breach of system security”:
      (A) Means the acquisition of the information set out in subdivision (a)(1)(A)(i) or (a)(1)(A)(ii) by an unauthorized person that materially compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information maintained by the information holder:

           (i) Unencrypted computerized data; or

           (ii) Encrypted…

State insurance Regulators + Familiar State Cybersecurity Finance Rules= More Cybersecurity Rules in 2017

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is being urged to adopt New York’s Cyber Finance Security Rules in each of their respective states.

NAIC will release proposed rules soon

Reuters | New York Regulator Wants Other States to Model Cyber Laws After Its Rules

Refresher on the New York Cyber Security Rules from January 2nd, 2017 informed:intel:

The state upping the ante on data security rules for the finance industry: New York

The new New York rules announced December 28th will…

3 Procurement Opportunities from the Dallas Emergency Siren Hack

Background on the emergency system hack:

  • all 156 of Dallas’ emergency sirens were hacked and triggered to sound last weekend
  • The hack of the system exposed that the system had to be shut down 

Procurement Opportunities for Emergency IT:

  • Mayor Rawlings called it “evidence of a need to upgrade and safeguard the city’s technology infrastructure”
  • The hack was tracked down because of the ability to coordinate with other security professionals
  • The sirens triggered a heavy load on the city’s 911…

Lege Trend. A Data Protection Bill Called Bad for Business. The Competing Interests…

The  Bill:  Illinois Right to Know Bill

What does the Right to Know Bill in Illinois do? It allows a person to know what information is collected about the person and to which businesses that information could be sold.

Why is it considered bad for business? 

  • complex compliance regulations, which would apply to businesses of all sizes,
  • enormous burden on small businesses statewide
  • “requires any business with a website — even a local flower  shop or pizza parlor — to draft privacy policies…

Which hospital type is at greatest risk to a data breach?

Teaching Hospitals. 

Johns Hopkins Carey Business School looked at data for data breeches at hospitals:

  •  1,798 data breaches hit hospitals from Oct. 21, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2016
  • 33 hospitals reported more than one breach — many of them teaching hospitals. 
  • Of the 141 acute care hospitals that reported breaches to HHS, 52 were major academic medical centers
  • In 2016, the overall number of electronic records that were compromised grew by 566% to more than 4 billion

Health Care Dive | Teaching…

8 States Data Privacy Laws. States Beating Feds to the Punch & the Koolaide.

  • Illinois
    • “right to know” bill
      • will let consumers find out what information about them is collected & what kinds of businesses the information is shared with
    • A bill to regulate when consumers’ locations can be tracked by smartphone applications
    • A bill to limit the use of microphones in internet-connected devices like mobile phones, smart TVs and personal assistants like Amazon’s Echo
  • California and Connecticut
    • Updated their laws to restrict government access to online…