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Articles by Michael Sugden
Why healthcare cybersecurity needs a check up
June 5, 2024 | The John Batchelor Show Why healthcare cybersecurity needs a check up
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: June
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch. In a surprise announcement, President Joe Biden unveiled what he said was an Israeli-proposed roadmap toward peace in Gaza.
Media Call: Healthcare Cybersecurity Needs a Check Up
Joe Dougherty: Greetings. We will begin the call in about 30 seconds. Good afternoon, many thanks for joining us for today’s call. My name is Joe Dougherty, senior director of communications here at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. We’re a nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy, and we’re based in Washington DC.
Healthcare Cybersecurity Needs a Check Up
In May 2021, San Diego-based hospital system Scripps Health suffered a massive ransomware attack lasting almost four weeks. The attack compromised the personal data of roughly 150,000 patients, and all five hospitals operated by Scripps Health faced significant limitations on their ability to provide care. With their data-sharing systems offline, hospital staff had to use paper records. Patients requiring emergency care had to be diverted to other hospitals.
Biden’s cybersecurity plan has a huge funding gap
The Biden administration is boasting about its planned $13 billion investment in cybersecurity for federal civilian agencies, but the White House’s plans neglect essential programs, including foundational research and standards setting. The administration is once again requesting far too little for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which develops cybersecurity standards and guidelines for the rest of the government.
Biden’s cybersecurity plan has a huge funding gap
The Biden administration is boasting about its planned $13 billion investment in cybersecurity for federal civilian agencies, but the White House’s plans neglect essential programs, including foundational research and standards setting. The administration is once again requesting far too little for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which develops cybersecurity standards and guidelines for the rest of the government.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: May
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch. After months of foot-dragging, Congress passed the national security supplemental appropriations bill, which President Biden quickly signed.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: April
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: March
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch. While this publication focuses principally on the administration’s policies, successful U.S. foreign policy requires both the executive and legislative branches to play a constructive role.
Hackers are Taking Advantage of Gaps in U.S. Cybersecurity Policy
When you press the power button on your computer, it turns on because a specialized code called firmware turns this stimulus into a signal the computer can understand. Firmware is constantly at work because it is the link between a device’s software and every piece of a device’s hardware, including its camera, microphone, keyboard, and cooling systems.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: February
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch. After initially restricting itself to playing defense against Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the administration struck back.
The Missing Middle
Introduction Coinciding with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Russian cyber operatives targeted thousands of satellite modems and routers throughout Ukraine and other parts of Europe. This attack, dubbed AcidRain by threat intelligence group SentinelLabs, targeted the firmware in Viasat KA-SAT modems, wiping the devices’ file system and storage device files. Firmware is the code embedded into a device’s hardware and functions as a bridge between software and hardware.
Fortifying the Crypto Future: U.S. National and Economic Security in the Virtual Realm
A livestream broadcast of the event will be available here on Monday, January 29 at 3:15pm ET. For questions about FDD events, contact . For media inquiries, please contact . Digital assets, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized finance offer economic opportunity while also exposing nation states and economies to genuine risk.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: January
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch.
HHS Cyber Strategy Aims to Provide Relief for Under-Resourced Hospitals
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a paper outlining its healthcare sector cybersecurity strategy on December 6, paying special attention to underfunded hospitals. This announcement comes at a time when such hospitals are disproportionately affected by cyberattacks and are in severe need of assistance.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: December
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch. President Joe Biden initially offered emphatic support for Israel following the October 7 massacre. But, nearly two months into Israel’s war against Hamas, cracks in U.S. support have emerged.
The Counter Ransomware Initiative Takes the Fight to Hackers — But Commitments Appear Lackluster
At the White House’s third annual Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI) summit this week, participating countries expanded their efforts to combat ransomware by launching information-sharing platforms and pledging not to pay ransomware extortion in hopes of making these attacks less lucrative. However, this pledge’s loopholes and limited scope may render it ineffective. The CRI is the largest international partnership tasked with deterring and disrupting ransomware attacks.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: November
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch.
Hamas’ Cryptocurrency Use Draws Attention to Terror Finance Enforcement Gaps
More than 100 Democratic and Republican members of Congress sent a letter to the White House last Tuesday urging the Biden administration to take action to stop terrorist organizations from raising funds using cryptocurrencies. Despite the U.S. Department of the Treasury having just issued new sanctions against 10 groups linked to Hamas — an important and necessary step — the letter reveals that significant gaps remain in Washington’s efforts to curb terrorist financing.
U.S.-UAE Cybersecurity Cooperation Marks Needed Collaboration in the Region
The United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cybersecurity cooperation. Against the backdrop of surging Iranian and criminal cyberattacks predating and unfolding during the Israel-Hamas war, enhanced cyber collaboration between Washington and its partners in the region can help mitigate shared cyber threats.
Ransomware Attack on Hospitals Highlights Need to Ensure Continuity of Patient Care
McLaren Health Care, one of Michigan’s largest hospital systems, is still recovering from a ransomware attack last week that caused outages in patient care services. This is yet another in a series of cyberattacks on healthcare providers, which can jeopardize the life and health of numerous patients in addition to inflicting financial damage.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: October
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has yet to confirm whether he will attend November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco.
Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: September
By John Hardie Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines of very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative for the areas they watch. Aiming to curtail Beijing’s ability to exploit American technology, the Biden administration moved to restrict U.S. investment in China.
Massive Healthcare Data Breach Demonstrates Need to Implement Cybersecurity Best Practices
The largest U.S. healthcare provider confirmed last week that a breach of its external data storage system exposed the personal information of at least 11 million patients. The largest data breach of a healthcare provider ever reported, this attack underscores the need for more robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive healthcare information.
Congress Should Protect U.S. Leadership in Quantum Research
The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology heard from administration officials and academic experts last week on the importance of reauthorizing the National Quantum Initiative (NQI) Act to help solidify America’s role as a leader in quantum technology. With China rapidly expanding its research into quantum computing, which can crack common encryption measures, the reauthorization and expansion of this act can help preserve America’s scientific edge.
U.S.-Israel Cyber Exercise Is a Successful Model to Build Upon
The United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) partnered with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Joint Cyber Defense Division earlier this month to conduct a five-day cyber defense simulation aimed at fostering interoperability in the face of real-world threats. This exercise is one of the most recent capacity-building efforts the United States has conducted to bolster American partners and allies in the face of growing cyber threats.
Cyber Insurance Settlements Leave Big Questions Unresolved
Major snack distributor Mondelez reached a settlement this month with its insurer, Zurich, after a five-year legal battle over whether the insurance company would cover losses Mondelez suffered from the NotPetya cyberattack. The settlement in this landmark lawsuit is likely to result in cyber insurance providers’ expansion of “act of war” exemptions unless policymakers address the government’s reinsurance role in the case of large scale, costly cyberattacks.
Latest Ransomware Attack on U.S. Healthcare System Exposes Critical Weaknesses
CommonSpirit Health, the second-largest non-profit hospital chain in the United States, suffered a ransomware attack last week. The latest in a string of cyberattacks against the healthcare and public health sector, the incident confirms the need for better collaboration between the U.S. government and this critical infrastructure sector.
Washington Punishes Iranian Cyber Actors While Preparing to Enrich Regime
The U.S. Treasury Department issued two sets of sanctions against Iran in mid-September for its malicious cyber operations. While the sanctions and other corresponding U.S. government actions raise awareness of the Iranian cyber threat, their impact will be undermined by the sanctions relief the Biden administration is reportedly prepared to give Tehran as part of a nuclear deal.
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