A DENTAL INDUSTRY SECRET: No One Wants to Share!

By Darrell Pruitt DDS

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Ransomware is getting worse, not better.

One doesn’t see this in dental literature, but ransomware is not going away. It is getting worse. “Ransomware Victim Count Increased by 75% in 2023” By Steve Alder for The HIPAA Journal, Jun 4, 2024. https://www.hipaajournal.com/ransomware-victim-count-increased-by-75-in-2023/

A new report from the Google-owned cybersecurity firm Mandiant suggests several reasons for the increase in attacks. “First, there has been a resetting of the cybe rcriminal ecosystem after a tumultuous year in 2022, an influx of new actors conducting attacks, new partnerships between existing groups, and members of disrupted, prolific ransomware groups such as Conti starting up their own RaaS operations. While the attacks in 2023 largely followed the same patterns as the previous year, there were some notable changes with several groups trialing new tactics, techniques, and procedures.

For example, to increase the pressure on victims to pay, attacks on healthcare providers saw extortion demands issued to patients whose data were stolen, threatening to publish their medical data if they did not personally pay a ransom. The ALPHV group created a searchable database to make stolen data more accessible, and threats were issued to report attacks on publicly traded companies to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).”

Imagine how ransomware would affect your practice if the extortion scheme bypassed you to directly threaten your patients – and blamed you for not paying the “reasonable” ransom demand.

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DAILY UPDATE: Inflation and “Bumble” Down as Stock Markets Rise and UHC Hackers ID’d

By Staff Reporters

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The Bumble dating app said this week that it plans to lay off 30% of its staff (about 350 employees) after a Q4 earnings report highlighted that profits are ghosting the company and Gen Z considers dating apps a turnoff. Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones, who took over in November when founder Whitney Wolfe Herd stepped down, said the cuts would save the company around $55 million. The company plans to invest in relaunching the app next quarter with new safety and AI features to entice all those looking for love.

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Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  • The S&P 500 index rose 26.51 points (0.5%) to 5,096.27, up 5.2% for the month; the Dow Jones Industrial Average® (DJI) added 47.37 points (0.1%) to 38,996.39, up 2.2% for the month; the NASDAQ Composite gained 144.18 points (0.9%) to 16,091.92, up 6.1% for the month.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) fell about 3 basis points to 4.244%.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) dropped 0.44 to 13.40.

Chipmaker shares were among the strongest performers Thursday, helping lift the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) 2.7% to a record high close. Banks and food and beverage industries were also firm. Small-cap stocks also extended a recent upswing. The Russell 2000® Index (RUT) erased much of an initial surge to a 22-month high but still finished with a 0.7% advance, gaining 5.5% for the month.

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Hackers that allegedly caused the UnitedHealth Group cyberattack reportedly posted on the dark web that they stole personal data and the records of “millions” of patients.

In a now-deleted post, the Blackcat ransomware group – also known as ALPHV or Noberus – said it stole several terabytes of data from UnitedHealth, which includes medical insurance and health data, Reuters reported, citing screenshots of the post.

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