Ransomware wrought havoc in 2020; sharpen tools, watch vendors to avoid breaches - Part B News

Sue Friedberg and Pamela Hepp, shareholders and co-chairs of Buchanan's Cybersecurity & Data Privacy group, were quoted in Part B News, "Ransomware wrought havoc in 2020; sharpen tools, watch vendors to avoid breaches."

Sue C. Friedberg, a shareholder and co-chair of the cybersecurity and data privacy group at Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney in Pittsburgh, says that this, or part of it, has been happening for years. "It used to be referred to as a ‘parting gift,'" she says. But "what's new is that [the hackers] will threaten to post the data on extortion sites," Friedberg adds. "They'll not only take the data but also actually expose it if the company refuses to pay the ransom."

"I continue to see phishing emails, and many have been geared toward acquiring pandemic subjects like PPE, for example, or the vaccine," notes Pamela E. Hepp, a shareholder and co-chair of the cybersecurity and data privacy group at Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney.