"The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked," Twitter's Bob Lord says.
The Government Accountability Office says the approach taken by the Federal Communications Commission to respond to a security lapse resulted in unnecessary risk that sensitive information could be disclosed, modified or obtained without authorization.
"We felt that it was very important to come out with this and say this was how easy it is for them to break into any U.S. company, and here's how they're doing it," The New York Times' Nicole Perlroth says.
A quick glance at a new survey suggests that businesses care more about protecting the privacy of their customers than governments do about their citizens. That's what the numbers say. But the numbers don't necessarily tell the whole story.
Although a hacktivist group says it has suspended distributed-denial-of-service attacks on U.S. banking institutions, banking and security leaders aren't convinced. "Banks should certainly remain on guard," says Gartner's Avivah Litan.
In this week's breach roundup, read about a stem cell bank reaching a settlement with the FTC tied to a 2010 breach and an investigation into unauthorized access to an Alabama state computer network.
Using technology to prevent breaches is insufficient. Security leaders also must address the human factor, making sure staff members receive appropriate training on clear-cut policies - before it's too late.
Smaller companies are among the business associates and subcontractors most likely to face the biggest hurdles in sorting through the new compliance requirements of the final HIPAA omnibus rule.
Managing advanced persistent threats will be a priority throughout 2013, says RSA CISO Eddie Schwartz. How should organizations defend themselves against APTs and the year's other top security threats?
"We're going to have to find a way to address the interests of other states to ... find common ground," Secretary of State John Kerry says. "We're just going to have to dig into it a lot deeper. I don't have a magic silver bullet to throw at you here today."
By hacking the website of the United States Sentencing Commission, the hacktivist collective Anonymous is blaming the U.S. government for the suicide of Internet activist Aaron Swartz.
The new omnibus rule makes it clear that business associates must comply with HIPAA. And the latest additions to the federal health data breach tally put a spotlight on why some BAs need to improve patient data protection.
In this week's breach roundup, read about the latest incidents, including the fourth major breach affecting Stanford University medical facilities and a vendor misplacing information on 6,000 Utah Medicaid clients.
"This is a business that should have known better," U.K. Deputy Information Commissioner David Smith says. "There's no doubt in my mind that they had access to both the technical knowledge and the resources to keep this information safe."
The sentencing of a former hospital emergency department worker in a data theft case serves as a reminder of why healthcare organizations need to take steps to prevent improper access to records.
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