Tag Archive for: MAP
A mole map interrupted as cyberattack barrage continues
/in Internet Security
In a ‘cyber incident’ last October, thousands of images of skin lesions and moles were compromised. / 123RF
2022 saw a barrage of ransomware attacks against healthcare providers, and many of their patients remain in frustrated suspense as we enter 2023.
Anne* – a previous melanoma sufferer – has had her moles mapped
for the past five years.
An annual head-to-toe Naevus mole mapping by Hamilton Skin Cancer Centre identified any suspicious spots that appeared on her skin since the last round of imaging.
This week, she got a rude shock when she discovered the centre had lost access to previous scans for its Naevus Mole Mapping system.
A “cyber incident” last October saw 10,000 images of skin lesions and moles – including any backups – compromised.
“Patients who previously had melanoma and were mapping moles as a precaution will now not have images from past years to compare with if they present with a suspicious mole. I am a patient now in this position,” Anne told the Herald.
A spokeswoman for Hamilton Skin Cancer Centre told the Herald the centre was working with police to retrieve the files. The centre is “hopeful” it will regain access to the 10,000 patient files.
She would not name the third-party IT provider that hosted the centre’s systems, not comment on whether ransomware was involved “due to this being an ongoing police investigation”.
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There were no printouts – which she said were not practical given the “granular resolution” of the imaging used for the mole mapping. New systems have been put in place since the October attack, including new backup procedures.
The centre contacted all affected patients in October by email or letter, including an email sent to Anne (which the patient never received – it’s presumed to have been caught in her spam filter).
A story in the media in October relayed patient fears body images could appear on the dark web – where ransomware attackers post “taster” files in a bid to pressure a victim into paying up.
That story emerged after the centre posted an online update that included the line: “Unfortunately our image storage system was affected, which means the third…
Microsoft and Manaaki Whenua to map NZ’s forest cover change
/in Computer Security
Microsoft and New Zealand Crown Research Institute, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, are teaming up to develop improved detection of land use and forest cover change in New Zealand.
Microsoft says its AI for Good team will work with Manaaki Whenua’s Remote Sensing team to develop models and methods to assess and monitor changes in land use and land cover at scale. The two organisations will use high-resolution satellite imagery, including datasets from the Planetary Computer.
It says those are important elements in assessing carbon stored in New Zealand forests, and improved mapping will help inform decisions and policies for a more sustainable Aotearoa.
“The data from this initiative will have practical applications related to understanding changes in carbon sequestration – the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” says Microsoft’s AI for Good programme’s chief data scientist, Juan Lavista Ferres.
Microsoft says these new mapping approaches can be combined with other carbon models to monitor changes in carbon, helping policymakers, urban planners, and the general community consider how their land use affects New Zealand’s climate change goals.
Manaaki Whenua chief scientist Fiona Carswell says Aotearoa New Zealand has ambitious goals to address climate change, and meeting those goals will require many partnerships and collaborations.
“This project with Microsoft is a strong example of working together to enrich our understanding of te taiao (our environment) today and for our future,” she says.
Additional collaboration with Manaaki Whenua and Microsoft, along with other partners, enterprises, and local communities, will develop research that supports government decision-making and policies related to the care of the land and climate change.
Microsoft says as data becomes ever more available at increasing resolution and frequency, techniques like AI and deep learning open new possibilities for monitoring our environment by mapping and measuring the natural world more frequently and with greater accuracy and confidence.
It says this project is an important step toward realising this aim.
This follows Microsoft’s recent…
Pipeline hack update: Colonial reopens across the map, ransomware payment
/in Computer Security
Colonial Pipeline, which shut down after a ransomware attack last week, said its entire system had resumed normal operations, a development that will help relieve concerns of a gas shortage along the East Coast of the US.
In a series of tweets early Saturday, the pipeline operator said it is “delivering millions of gallons per hour” to the markets it served. The company said it delivers 100 million gallons of fuel a day.
Colonial had been closed since last Friday, when a ransomware infection was found on its computer systems. The shutdown affected the supply of gas in parts of the East Coast, with some people waiting an hour or more at filling stations or not finding gas at all. State and federal officials had warned against hoarding and panic buying that could exacerbate the problem.
The ransomware infection at Colonial highlighted the vulnerability of the country’s critical infrastructure, which has been the target of an increasing number of cyberattacks. Cities, schools and hospitals have all been hit by cybercriminals, who scramble a victim’s computers and then extort a payment to decrypt them.