Author Archives: John DiGiacomo

2016 was unkind when it comes to health care system data breaches. The top ten healthcare data breaches of 2016 affected more than 16 million people. There were more than 300 incidents of hacking and data security breaches throughout the year. The federal government tracks instances of healthcare data breaches and publishes its report for […]

Medjacking, or medical device hijacking, is a new kind of cybersecurity threat to health care systems. Medjacking involves hacking into medical devices using backdoors to access software on the device. Since many of the vulnerable medical devices, such as life-support equipment and diagnostic equipment, use older or standard operating systems, the biggest challenge for a […]

Cybercrime and data breaches have been on the rise for many years, and it is not surprising that the threat of cybercrime has become a bigger concern for people than the threat of real, physical criminal acts. A recent report issued by Sophos, Ltd. indicates that people are now more worried about being the victim […]

To remove a trademark from the Federal Register, a petitioner can file what is known as a Petition to Cancel with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). The TTAB is an adjudicatory body within the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). If a petitioner succeeds, the disputed mark will be removed from the […]

For many, the concept of system hacking is foggy, and few know how hackers gain access to computer systems. Cyber attacks have been evolving for decades. Once regarded as exploratory curiosity, hackers would access systems without permission only to see if they could. Hacking has converted over time into aggressive intrusions into computer systems for […]

New York cybersecurity regulations were to take effect on January 1, 2017, as proposed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, which we wrote about here. But after leaders in the financial community voiced concern over the rules in late December, the effective date for the new cybersecurity regulations has been pushed back to March 1, 2017 […]

The Yahoo data breach is one of the largest cyber security hacks to happen to date. Yahoo recently announced that it was the victim of a cyber attack in August of 2013, and this revelation could have an impact on Yahoo’s potential sale to Verizon. Yahoo revealed that more than one billion Yahoo user accounts may […]

Attention to Detail and Diligence are Critical When Dealing with Cyber Security If the data breaches of the last couple of years are any indication, cyber security and data breaches will continue to make headlines in 2017. Most data security breaches are the result of an oversight somewhere in the system. Companies large and small […]

There is a new ransomware making the rounds that offers victims a Hobson’s choice: Popcorn Time ransomware. This ransomware gives the victim a choice: either pay the ransom amount to gain access to his or her data, or choose to pass the ransomware on to two unsuspecting colleagues. It hardly sounds like a choice, does […]

Effective January 1, 2017, banks, financial institutions, and insurance companies in New York will be required to comply with new cybersecurity regulations. The New York cybersecurity regulations are closely aligned with the Center of Internet Safety’s 20 CIS Controls. The CIS controls are the industry standard when it comes to cybersecurity and threat prevention. New York, being […]