Tag Archive for: york

Ransomware group posts nude photos of cancer patients online – New York Daily News

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A ransomware gang with Russian ties is accused of posting nude photos of cancer patients online after a Pennsylvania health care group declined to meet its demands.

Lehigh Valley Health Network called the cyberattack an “unconscionable criminal act” that exploits patients undergoing treatment for cancer, according to Lehigh Valley Live.

On Sunday, a Twitter feed that tracks malware said the hacker group ALPHV, also known as BlackCat, was “exploiting and sexualizing breast cancer.”

The tweet included a note, seemingly from ALPHV, telling the health care provider that its patients’ “passports, personal data, questionnaires, nude photos and the like” had been stolen. The hacker group said it was prepared to publish these materials online, and warned such a disclosure would “cause significant damage to [the provider’s] business.”

Lehigh Valley Health Network announced Thursday that it is building a new hospital in Carbon County.

Lehigh Valley Health Network announced Thursday that it is building a new hospital in Carbon County. (The Morning Call/The Morning Call)

In a statement, Lehigh Valley Health Network said the information hacked from its systems included a trio of screenshots containing clinically appropriate images of patients undergoing radiation oncology treatment at a facility in Scranton, Pa. The breach also reportedly included seven documents with personal information about patients.

It’s unclear how much money ALPHV was demanding. The organization is reportedly known to have asked for payments of up to $1.5 million.

[ Industries hit hardest by ransomware ]

Lehigh Valley Health Network said last month it experienced a cyberattack that did not interrupt operations, but warned the incursion targeted images like the ones published over the weekend. Law enforcement was made aware of the situation.

ALPHV is said to target health care and academic institutions.

Georgia station WMAZ reported Monday that a Houston County-based health care group that treats 300,000 patients a year was targeted by a ransomware attack last week, causing the health care workers to implement “back up processes.”

Further details of that attack have not been made public.

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New York National Guard Cyber Experts Learn from Brazilian Counterparts

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When the Brazilian Cyber Defense Command (CDCiber) showcased itself to representatives of 15 nations August 18 as part of its Cyber Guardian Exercise, two New York Army National Guard Soldiers represented the United States.

Captain Andrew Carter, the information systems officer for the 42nd Infantry Division headquarters battalion, and Chief Warrant Officer Two Nefertiti Stokes, a 173rd Cyber Protection Team (CPT)member, spent three days with Brazilian computer security experts in Brasilia, the country’s capital.

The visit was conducted as part of the State Partnership Program relationship the New York National Guard has had with the Brazilian Armed Forces since 2019.

Their role, Capt. Carter said, was to determine what types of cyber operations training the New York National Guard’s computer security experts could conduct with their Brazilian counterparts.

Brazil’s Ministry of Defense Cyber Defense Center oversees cybersecurity across all sectors.

What they learned, Capt. Carter said, is that Brazil relies on its military computer security specialists to protect both military information systems and those of Brazilian civilian industry professionals.

This is very similar to U.S. Cyber Command’s emphasis on keeping military networks as well as critical infrastructure across the nation safe from computer attacks, Capt. Carter said. The difference, he noted, is that because Brazil does not have a National Guard equivalent, the Brazilians have full-time military personnel working with civilian cyber professionals to deal with cyber threats.

Capt. Carter said the United States relies on full-time personnel and people like Chief Warrant Officer 2 Stokes, who works in cybersecurity as a civilian, to put their civilian-acquired knowledge to work.

The three-day visit gave the two New Yorkers a chance to see different facets of Brazil’s communications and signals effort.

On the first day, they visited Brazil’s equivalent of the U.S. Army Signal School at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Capt. Carter said he was impressed and amazed to find out the Brazilians were still teaching the use of Morse code to encrypt messages. The U.S. Army stopped teaching the dots and dashes of Morse…

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Charles Schwab to Launch Crypto-Themed ETF on New York Stock Exchange

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After being dubious of crypto for some years, Charles Schwab will launch its Schwab Crypto Thematic Index next week.

The fund, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange Arca under the STCE ticker, will offer indirect exposure to the “crypto ecosystem,” Schwab Asset Management, the investment arm of the Charles Schwab Corporation, said in a statement.  

Schwab’s prospectus, which the firm filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, says in bold type that the new fund “will not invest in cryptocurrency or digital assets directly.” 

Rather, at least 80% of the fund’s assets will be invested in securities, like shares of companies that have a stake in crypto. For example, the prospectus said the fund currently has 44% of its assets invested in software companies and another 41% in the diversified financials sector.

“STCE can offer more targeted exposure to cryptocurrency-focused companies compared to blockchain technology ETFs, which may have significant exposure to multi-national companies involved in blockchain (e.g., Amazon, IBM, Mastercard, and others),” David Botnet, Schwab’s head of equity product management, told Decrypt in an email.

The fund will have an annual fund operating expense of 0.30%, which works out to be $3 per $1,000 invested. That means it’ll have “the lowest cost crypto-related ETF available to investors today,” the company said in the announcement.

For comparison’s sake, the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (BITQ) charges 0.85% and VanEck, which just filed a new spot Bitcoin ETF application, charges 0.50% on its Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP).

It’s a bid to eke out an advantage while being late to the field. Schwab has trailed behind its traditional finance competitor, Fidelity, for a few years now.

In 2019, Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger was dismissive of crypto, calling it too “speculative.” Meanwhile, in 2019, Fidelity had just been granted a charter to operate its Fidelity Digital Asset Services as a limited liability trust company in New York State.

Then, at the start of 2022, Schwab’s Bettinger told The Dallas Morning News that he thinks there’s “a tremendous void” in…

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Airport Passengers Exit Terminal 4 for ‘Security Incident’ – NBC New York

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Amid one of the busiest travel weekends in the country, the largest terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport experienced a “security incident” on Sunday that prompted a partial evacuation.

The first signs of trouble at the airport began surfacing on social media shortly before 11 a.m. as passengers were ushered out of Terminal 4.

A spokesperson for the Port Authority said passengers were cleared from the departures area of the terminal while the bomb squad investigated an unattended bag.

The arrival and departure levels of Terminal 4 were briefly closed to all inbound traffic due to the investigation.

Bomb squad investigators and K-9 teams deemed the unattended luggage safe and airport operations were resumed around 12 p.m.

The bag contained a common household product K-9s are trained to detect, a law enforcement source told News 4.

The impact of the over hour-long shutdown was expected to cause delays at the terminal as the holiday weekend rush continued.

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