Free Republic

The story is about how older hackers from Russia in their 40's who have been hacking for years and know all the tricks unite with younger hackers, ENglish speaking, who are doing the hacking into corps. and elsewhere.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Department of Justice when he was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday. Thompson — who was killed in what police called a targeted shooting outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown — exercised stock options and sold shares worth $15.1 million on Feb. 16, less than two weeks before news of the federal antitrust probe went public, according to a Crain’s New York Business report from April. ... Earlier this year, UnitedHealth was hit by one of the largest healthcare data breaches...

WASHINGTON—A post on a hacker forum popular with cybercriminals has claimed UnitedHealth Group paid $22 million in a bid to recover access to data and systems encrypted by the “Blackcat” ransomware gang, according to two researchers. Neither UnitedHealth nor the hackers involved have commented on the alleged ransom payment, but a cryptocurrency tracing firm partially corroborated the claim on Monday. It is not uncommon for large companies that have been victimized by ransomware gangs to decide to pay the hackers to regain control of their networks, especially in instances where a significant disruption to customers and partners occurred. The forum...

It's being called the largest ever breach of protected patient health information by a government-regulated medical company in America's history. Change Healthcare, owned by UnitedHealth Group, fell victim to a cyberattack eight months ago, but revealed on Thursday that 100 million people had been impacted. That surpassed the previous recordholder for worst breach of US patient data: a 2015 episode at Anthem Inc. that compromised 78.8 million individuals. The first official report by Change Healthcare, which manages revenue and payments for medical providers, estimated in July that only 500 people had been compromised. Now, the scope of the February 21...

History of National Black Cat Appreciation Day Have you ever feared a black cat crossing your path? This is from ancient superstitions where people thought this meant bad luck. For many cultures and historical settings, black cats were actually meant for positive things. So, to try and dispel these myths about black cats, National Black Cat Appreciation Day was created to be celebrated on August 17 every year. Today, pop culture loves black cats. There’s the sarcastic Thackery Binx in “Hocus Pocus”, Salem, in “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” and Pyewacket in the classic “Bell, Book and Candle,” and we can’t...

The cat slipped onto the ice Friday before the Sharks won a big playoff gameThe San Jose Sharks got an unexpected visit Friday. Before the NHL team beat the Nashville Predators 5-2 at the SAP Center, a black cat crept out of the player bench area and scurried onto the ice. As the Sharks warmed up for the first game of their best-of-seven playoff series, fans watched the small feline making a beeline for an oversized, fiberglass shark head, only to escape under the seats at "the Shark Tank," as the arena is known. The venue’s staff was able...