Change Healthcare payout, FTC probe into Reddit, Japanese tech giant breached

UnitedHealth fronts over $2 billion in recovery efforts?

This is one of those ransomware attacks that we will likely be talking about for years to come. On Monday, UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of Change Healthcare announced they’ve advanced payments of over $2 billion to assist healthcare providers affected by a major ransomware attack in late February. The company also stated that they have begun releasing medical claims software, which will become available to thousands of customers over the next several days. However, they are still working to restore some services that continue to be offline.

(Reuters), (UnitedHealth Group)

Spyware agreement gains more international support?

Six new countries—Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Poland, and South Korea—have joined an alliance of 11 others in a U.S.- led agreement to combat the misuse of commercial spyware. This pact commits these countries to establishing robust guardrails and procedures around spyware usage and to enhancing global awareness of its dangers. Quick spyware 101, spyware is malicious software designed to infiltrate mobile phones to eavesdrop and collect data, which poses a significant national security and counterintelligence threat. CNN reports, the Biden administration continues to uncover cases targeting American government personnel. In response, the White House has ramped up efforts against this threat, implementing new visa restrictions and sanctions against entities involved in the spyware industry.

(The Record), (CNN)

FTC probes Reddit’s AI data licensing ahead of IPO

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating whether Reddit should be allowed to license its user-generated content to artificial intelligence companies. As you can imagine, many Reddit users took to the social media platform to express their concerns about their insights being sold to the highest bidder. This inquiry was revealed in a recent securities filing as Reddit prepared for its initial public offering (IPO). The investigation focuses on whether Reddit’s actions constitute unfair or deceptive practices under consumer protection? laws. Reddit, which has struck a deal with Google worth $60 million a year to share data for AI training, said in the filing that they were not “surprised that the FTC has expressed interest in this area” but maintains they do not believe they are doing anything wrong.

(The Record)

Homeland Security lays out plan to incorporate AI?

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is embracing AI with open arms. On Monday, the agency released a plan highlighting three pilot projects: Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will test AI for investigating process to detect fentanyl and combating child sexual exploitation, The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will deploy AI for hazard mitigation, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) with use AI for immigration officer training. The pilot program is expected to cost $5 million and, according to the New York Times, will utilize AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and partner with Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. (FedScoop), (DHS)

Huge thanks to our sponsor, Vanta

Japanese tech giant confirms data breach

Fujitsu, the world’s sixth-largest IT services provider, confirmed that they discovered malware on several of their computer systems, and that personal data and customer information may have been impacted. The release did not offer much information, including the type of malware used or the specific personal information that may have been stolen. The company did note, they reported the incident to Japan’s data protection authority “in anticipation” that personal data was taken.

(Tech Crunch), (Bleeping Computer)

83,000 exposed in mortgage lender breach

Nation Direct Mortgage, a Nevada-based company, reports that the data of more than 83,000 customers was leaked in a late 2023 attack. In a recent? ? filing, the company said Social Security numbers and other sensitive information were exposed after an unauthorized third party was able to obtain access to the systems. The lender, which operates out of 35 states, says they are offering victims two years of identity protection services.

(The Record)

Time to patch your Fortinet appliances?

Despite Fortinet patching a critical security flaw (CVE-2024-21762) in FortiOS over a month ago, more than 133,000 Fortinet appliances remain vulnerable with the highest number of exposures in Asia. This vulnerability, rated 9.6 out of 10 for severity, allows for remote code execution and has already been actively exploited, as confirmed by Fortinet and the US government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The availability of proof of concepts online increases the risk of attacks on these vulnerable systems. Like the Bernie Sanders meme, security experts are once again asking for this vulnerability to get patched.?

(The Register)

Pensacola joins growing list of city governments attacked?

It’s spring break season for many beaches across Florida, and while it’s never an ideal time to be a victim of a cyberattack, some would agree this is less than ideal.? Pensacola’s city government is experiencing widespread phone outages across various departments, although emergency services remain operational. Details about whether the attack involved ransomware or if a ransom demand was made have not been disclosed. The city is no stranger to cyberattacks; in 2019, it spent $300,000 to recover from an incident after the Maze ransomware gang stole 2 gigabytes of data. The recent incident in Pensacola comes just days after an attack left outages in Birmingham, Alabama, as we first reported on Monday.

(The Record)