data breach

Recently, Robert Purbeck of Idaho, also known as “Lifelock,” and “Studmaster,” was sentenced to ten years after pleading guilty to federal charges of computer fraud and abuse. He hacked into the computer servers of the City of Newnan, Georgia and a Griffin, Georgia medical clinic, and then targeted at least 17 other victims across the United States – in the process stealing personal information of more than 132,000 individuals. He also attempted to extort a Florida orthodontist for payment in Bitcoin, threatening to disclose stolen patient records and other personal information.

“Cyber extortion is unfortunately a rapidly growing threat and highlights the ever-growing need for corporations to remain vigilant in cybersecurity efforts,” said Sean Burke, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This sentencing is just one example of the FBI working together to hold criminals that hide behind their computers accountable, regardless of their location.”

According to information presented in court, in June 2017, Purbeck purchased access to the computer server of a Griffin medical clinic on a darknet marketplace. He then used the stolen credentials to illegally access the computers of the medical clinic and removed records that contained the sensitive personal information of more than 43,000 individuals, including names, addresses, birth dates, and social security numbers.

The International Bar Association created a “President’s Task force on Cybersecurity”. Meg Strickler was appointed to serve on this prestigious task force and helped draft Cybersecurity Guidelines. Today, it is all the more important to be weary of a data breach if you own and operate a small business. Data breaches can interrupt operations, cause chaos and most importantly impact the bottom line severely. Just this month, Atlanta based law firm Hall Booth Smith experienced a data breach. Meg Strickler was quoted in the Fulton County Daily Report in discussing this breach, stating that the most important thing for law firms to do is educate their employees on how to stay safe online. One of the biggest issues she’s seen recently is data breaches resulting from Trojan emails, when employees click on links from unfamiliar senders. She also advised other precautionary measures, such as making sure bookkeepers don’t transfer money without protections in place and establishing safeguards to prevent disgruntled employees from internally dismantling a system. Please see here for the full article.

So what to do to prepare? Some obvious first steps are educating employees on cyber safety measures, making sure emails are encrypted, ensuring cyber insurance is up to date and becoming familiar with your company’s assets. You want to have a procedure and plan written ahead of time.

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