Page 7 - Threat Intelligence 9-5-2019

Regulatory and

Privacy News

Google defends tracking cookies—some experts aren’t buying it. Google's Chrome team is feeling pressure
from competitors over ad tracking. Apple has long offered industry-leading protection against tracking cookies,
while Mozilla recently announced that Firefox will begin blocking tracking cookies by default. Microsoft has
been experimenting with tracking protection features in Edge, too. But Google has a problem: it makes most
of its money selling ads. Adopting the same aggressive cookie blocking techniques as its rivals could prevent
Google's customers from targeting ads—potentially hurting Google's bottom line. "Blocking cookies without
another way to deliver relevant ads significantly reduces publishers’ primary means of funding, which
jeopardizes the future of the vibrant Web," Google's Justin Schuh writes. Google also warns that completely
blocking tracking cookies will cause ad networks to resort to browser fingerprinting as an alternative means of
tracking users.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/08/why-some-experts-are-skeptical-of-googles-
new-web-privacy-strategy/

The Extortion Economy: How Insurance Companies Are Fueling a Rise in Ransomware Attacks - Ransomware
is proliferating across America, disabling computer systems of corporations, city governments, schools and
police departments. This month, attackers seeking millions of dollars encrypted the files of 22 Texas
municipalities. Overlooked in the ransomware spree is the role of an industry that is both fueling and
benefiting from it: insurance. In recent years, cyber insurance sold by domestic and foreign companies has
grown into an estimated $7 billion to $8 billion-a-year market in the U.S. alone, according to Fred Eslami, an
associate director at AM Best, a credit rating agency that focuses on the insurance industry. While insurers do
not release information about ransom payments, ProPublica has found that they often accommodate
attackers’ demands, even when alternatives such as saved backup files may be available.
Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-extortion-economy-how-insurance-companies-are-
fueling-a-rise-in-ransomware-attacks

What is the CCPA and Who Must Comply? The California Consumer Privacy Act Explained - On June 28, the
California Governor signed into law the California Consumer Privacy Act, and enforcement of the CCPA starts
January 1st, 2020. Not unlike the GDPR deadline, there is growing interest in how to meet these requirements
before the enforcement period begins, and similar to how businesses approached the GDPR, organizations are
being forced to change how they operate because of it – and because of the fines associated with it. Most of
the CCPA requirements are around disclosures and ultimately the discontinuation of selling California
residents’ PII – or personally identifiable information. The regulation outlines new standards for consumer
data collection, as well as consequences for businesses that fail to protect this data. Also included in the CCPA
is a new set of rights that California consumers can exercise.

Source: https://securityboulevard.com/2019/08/what-is-the-ccpa-and-who-must-comply-the-
california-consumer-privacy-act-explained/

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