On March 26, 2025, the UK data protection regulator (the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”)) fined Advanced Computer Software Group Ltd (“Advanced”) £3.07 million (approximately $4 million). In 2022, Advanced suffered a ransomware incident that put the personal data of 79,404 people at risk. In its penalty notice, the ICO found that Advanced failed to implement […]
Cybersecurity
FCC Announces New National Security Unit Focusing on State-Sponsored Cyber Threats
On March 13, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) Chairman Brendan Carr announced the creation of a Council on National Security (the “Council”) with Adam Chan serving as the Director. This new Council will be comprised of eight Bureaus and Offices within the FCC and will “leverage the full range of the Commission’s regulatory, investigatory, […]
Ransom Payments At A Historic Low According to Report
On February 4, 2025, Coveware, Inc. released its quarterly ransomware report for the fourth quarter of 2024, and identified that the percentage of victims paying ransoms fell to a historic low of 25%. While the average amount of a payment in Q4 2024 rose 16% quarter-over-quarter to $553,959, the median amount dropped a significant 45% […]
UK Government Proposes Targeted Ban on Ransom Payments and Increased Ransomware Incident Reporting
On January 14, 2025, the United Kingdom government published a consultation on ransomware proposing new measures to increase incident reporting and reduce ransom payments (the “Consultation”). The Consultation outlines three objectives in this regard and is open for responses until April 8, 2025. Proposal 1: Targeted Ban on Ransomware Payments The UK government is proposing […]
CISA Releases the AI Cybersecurity Collaboration Playbook to Strengthen AI-related Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Collaboration
On January 14, 2025, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released the AI Cybersecurity Collaboration Playbook (the “Playbook”) to provide guidance to organizations within the AI community (including AI providers, developers, and adopters) to voluntarily share AI-related cybersecurity information with CISA and its partners through the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC). To combat AI-related […]