Norton Rose Fulbright Canada’s cyber litigation team recently obtained an order in favour of an insurer, granting it relief from forfeiture in respect of more than 11 bitcoins from the assets seized from a prolific ransomware gang.[1] This case
The UK’s ICO issues a monetary penalty notice to professional services firm after ransomware attack
On 10 March 2022, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued a monetary penalty notice to a professional services firm (the Firm) to the tune of £98,000 for a breach of Article 5(1)(f) of the General Data Protection
Who gets to decide to pay the ransom in a ransomware attack?
The onslaught of ransomware attacks since the pandemic began has not slowed. Organizations have been faced with the task of continuously reviewing their cybersecurity programs to ensure they are following best practices to protect against ransomware groups. But organizations also
OFAC Announces New Measures to Address Ransomware Attacks
The U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) implemented additional measures today to combat the growing ransomware problem. OFAC’s measures consist of: (1) the designation of the entire SUEX OTC, S.R.O. (“SUEX”) crypto-currency exchange (SUEX) to the
“But the emails” – companies’ SEC filings reflect ransomware risks
The Equifax breach will likely devour the entire breach news cycle in the near term, given the size of the incident and that it gets to the essence of the company’s business of maintaining some of the most sensitive consumer
WannaCry Ransomware Attack Summary
In this post, we summarize key facts regarding the WannaCry ransomware attack, provide an abbreviated list of known affected companies, and offer an overview of the legal issues and the response to the attack. This post is an update to our prior coverage of WannaCry.
Large Ransomware Attack Affects Companies in Over 70 Countries
A large-scale ransomware attack began impacting companies and hospitals across the United States, Europe, and Asia early Friday morning. According to reports, companies in more than 70 countries have reported incidents as of Friday afternoon.
The attacks are being
FTC Enforcement Possible for Failing to Guard Against Ransomware
Recent comments by FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez suggest that a company’s failure to take preventative measures to address ransomware could result in an enforcement action by the FTC, even if a company is never actually subject to a ransomware attack. The Chairwoman’s comments reflect a growing concern among US government agencies regarding ransomware and may foreshadow additional FTC action, building upon a developing trend of US regulators engaging in pre-breach enforcement action.
Your Money or Your PHI: New Guidance on Ransomware
On June 12, 2016, the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released guidance, entitled “FACT SHEET: Ransomware and HIPAA,” in response to the rising number of ransomware attacks perpetrated against healthcare entities. The guidance addresses Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) issues that may arise when medical records containing Protected Health Information (PHI) are compromised or stolen during a ransomware attack. OCR’s view is that compliance with HIPAA’s information security requirements assists healthcare entities in preventing and recovering from ransomware attacks.
Ransomware Incident Response – Prevention, Readiness and Strategy
Last week, the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center was able to successfully negotiate the release of a collection of system resources and data files that had been encrypted and held hostage by ransomware attackers. Ransomware is a peculiar type of malware that is not designed or intended to steal personal or confidential information. Rather, ransomware is built to exploit the inherent value assigned to data security and control, by taking it away from the user. It does this by combing for critical system files and potentially valuable user data (word documents, excel spreadsheets, pdf files, outlook messages, and the like). As these target files are identified, a strong encryption algorithm is applied to prevent infected computer systems from properly functioning while inhibiting bewildered users from accessing their own files, unless and until the attackers are paid to provide the decryption key.