​RANSOMWARE FACTS

On an average day in 2016, more than 4,000 ransomware attacks occurred—a 300 percent increase over the approximately 1,000 attacks per day in 2015—according to a U.S. government interagency report. EUROPOL considers ransomware to be the most "prominent malware threat," surpassing data stealing malware and banking Trojans, according to its 2016 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment. Small and medium-sized businesses are especially impacted by ransomware; Malwarebytes reported that 22 percent of those recently surveyed had to cease business operations, and 15 percent lost revenue due to a ransomware attack.

TERRORISM

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) analyzed some 1,400 incidents of global terrorism in the report Overview: Terrorism in 2016.​

INTERNATIONAL MAIL

Does the system of international mail security in the United States have a hole in it? The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently explored the issue​ and suggested that some extra measures may be warranted.

911 CALLS

NENA, known as the 911 association, provides statistics ​on how many emergency calls are made in the United States and from what type of device, as well as a list of fast facts on 911 calling.  

SOCIAL MEDIA

It's important for companies to have a social media policy in force to prevent legal and reputational problems. Scott L. Vernick, Esq., offers advice in an article posted online by Reputation Communications.​

MONITORING

A company violated an employee's right to privacy when it fired him after monitoring his electronic communications and accessing their contents, the European Court of Human Rights ruled.

​FITNESS FOR DUTY

A nuclear power plant did not discriminate against a security guard when it fired him for failing a fitness for duty examination because he was not able to perform essential functions of his job, a U.S. court of appeals ruled.​

SOFTWARE

Lenovo agreed to implement a comprehensive software security program for its laptops for the next 20 years to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission and 32 U.S. state attorney generals.​

BIRD BEHAVIOR

Like humans, some birds remember being cheated, according to researchers from Austria and Sweden.