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Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) News: 02 January 2019

Each business day, MSSP Alert broadcasts a quick lineup of news, analysis and chatter from across the global managed security services provider, SOC (security operations center) and IT outsourcing ecosystem.

Here’s the daily business update for Wednesday morning, January 2, 2019. PS: Just for today, we've included quite a few items that you may have missed ahead of the New Year.

16. Huawei, ZTE Barred?: The White House apparently may bar Huawei and ZTE product sales in the United States. Meanwhile, Huawei's gear will be ripped out of the core part of a U.K. communications network for police and other emergency responder, Bloomberg reports. Multiple governments worldwide are concerned that China-based Huawei may help China in spying operations Huawei denies the claims.

15. Hacked - Biometric Security: Vein authentication, which involves a computer scanning the shape, size, and position of a users’ veins under the skin of their hand, has been hacked, according to Motherboard...

14. Hacked - 9-11 Data: A hacker group has breached a law firm handling cases related to the September 11 attacks, and threatens to publicly release a large cache of related internal files unless their ransom demands are met, according to this report...

13. Network Breach - Municipality: An investigation is underway into reported “unauthorized access” of Lake Charles City’s information technology systems. A statement from the city of Lake Charles says it is working with independent computer forensics experts, KPLC reports.

12. Phishing Attack: A hack against cryptocurrency wallet Electrum has seen a malicious party steal almost 250 Bitcoin (BTC) (about $937,000), commentators reported on social media Dec. 27, according to Coin Telegraph.

11. Data Leak - Service Provider: Orange, the massive European service provider, has patched more than 19,000 ADSL modems that had been leaking WiFi credentials.

10. Potential Data Breach - Health Care: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has notified about 15,000 Medicare Advantage members of a potential breach of personal information after a laptop computer of an employee of a subsidiary of the insurer was stolen in late October, Crain's Detroit Business reports.

9. Data Breach - North Korea Defectors: The personal information of nearly 1,000 North Koreans who defected to South Korea has been leaked after unknown hackers got access to a resettlement agency’s database, the South Korean Unification Ministry said on December 28, Reuters reports.

8. Data Breach - Fine: French data privacy watchdog CNIL last week fined telecoms company Bouygues 250,000 euros (US$284,825) for a security breach that affected the personal data of around two million clients for over two years, Reuters reports.

7. Data Breach - NASA: The details are here...

6. Data Breach - Retailers: Caribou Coffee and eyewear retailer Warby Parker each have disclosed data breaches...

5. Healthcare Cybersecurity Guidance: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a publication called “Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices (HICP): Managing Threats and Protecting Patients". The four volume publication offers cybersecurity guidance to healthcare organizations.

4. Earnings - MSSP: CSPi, a provider of security and packet capture products, managed IT and professional services and technology solutions, has finally unveiled financial results for its quarter ended September 30, 2018. The numbers reveal how challenging it can be to transform a business and bet the house on security services...

3. SonicWall Momentum: SonicWall has announced record year-on-year growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, according to GDN.

2. Government Shutdown Impacts NIST: The U.S. government shutdown could ultimately impact enterprise and federal security, some pundits claim. Among the areas of concern: NIST, which provides a cybersecurity framework that many MSPs and MSSPs are embracing, is largely dark at this time. We'll share more details soon.

1. MSSP Alert Webcasts 2019: Our schedule is posted here. Register now to join us.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.