Patrick Dunne

Healthcare Firms Ripe for Ransomware Attacks During COVID
Healthcare companies long have been a prime target for hackers and scammers.
Last year’s Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report found that healthcare companies comprised 15% of breaches. The coronavirus now has only made such companies even more vulnerable to malicious outsiders.
Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow said that as many as 764 healthcare providers were affected by ransomware attacks last year.
Why do hackers love targe...

By Patrick W. Dunne – freelance writer for Digital Privacy News – follow him on LinkedIn or read his blog.
Email can be one of the least secure platforms out there. Every day, people freely exchange private information without regard for who might see it, or whose hands it could end up in.
You’re probably familiar with a few standard security tips, such as using strong passwords and avoiding spyware. However, many people overlook the importance of using encrypted email.
What is email encrypti...

Should you pay for the full bill or go dutch?
The idea that the man pays for the date is mired in tradition. Much like opening doors or giving the woman your coat, such etiquette has been passed down through generations. For a good reason too. These are generally seen as courteous and chivalrous ways to show respect for your date.
But paying for dates is still a contentious issue. You’ll find articles all over the internet about how people think you should or shouldn’t pay for a date. Even me...

By Patrick W. Dunne – freelance writer for Digital Privacy News – follow him on LinkedIn or read his blog.
In 2012, the European Commission sought to reform data privacy across the European Union (EU) and adapt to the technological age. After years of deliberation, the European Parliament published the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to replace outdated privacy-related laws from 1995. Two years later, GDPR became law.
What is GDPR?
GDPR is a set of laws that outlines the digital rig...

Earlier this year, Tesla Inc. sued an alleged malicious user who “conducted quite extensive and damaging sabotage” on the company.
The lawsuit contended that the accused made several destructive changes to Tesla’s source code and exported gigabytes of data to sell to a third party.
However, the disturbance did not come from a hacker group. It came from inside the company, based in Palo Alto, Calif.
The litigation claimed the former employee, Martin Tripp, used his inside knowledge to steal co...

I talked to Varonis Field CTO about insider threats and what companies can do to prevent them.

There comes a point in every relationship where both partners need to have a serious talk. Perhaps you two have been dating a while and need to communicate your feelings and expectations. Sharing your deepest feelings and exposing your vulnerability is never an easy task. Even if both of you have been dating for a long time, it’s still difficult to confess your innermost thoughts and beliefs.
However, communication is absolutely essential to any successful relationship. After all, a YourTango...

Updating HIPAA for a Modern Time
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton.
HIPAA restricts who gets access to a patient’s private health data. This allows Americans to keep their health status and identity a secret from unwanted third parties.
However, the law has not been without its share of critics. One is Dr. Fred H. Cate, a professor and vice president for research at Indiana University in Bloomington. As an exp...

How often do you express gratitude for the things in your life? What comes to mind when you do? You might think of the obvious ones – your friends, family, career, home, and such. It’s easy to take these things for granted. We often compare our lives to others. We want what other people have – their looks, money, personality, and success.

Counting your blessings isn’t some cheesy New Age snake oil. Gratitude has many scientifically-proven benefits and doesn’t cost a dime. If you want to be ha...

Healthy relationships thrive on communication. After all, a relationship is nothing more than an agreement between two people to love and care for one another. Successful couples share their most intimate thoughts, feelings, and worries with each other. Meaningful social interactions help improve people’s happiness and mood. Humans are social creatures and crave to connect with other people.
People in happy marriages talk to each other at least five hours a week and have a 5:1 ratio of positi...

Remember Brain Age for the Nintendo DS? Back in the mid-2000s, I was hooked on this game. It claimed that you could lower your “brain age” by playing games for a few minutes each day.

I made this game into a daily habit. Every day, I’d excitedly open the game, hear about how much Dr. Kawashima hates cilantro, and do Stroop tests, reading games, multiplications, and memory puzzles. I’d watch my scores slowly rise as my brain age decreased. Finally, there was a game that was fun and healthy. I ...

Here’s one reason you should start jogging, even during quarantine: cardio can make you smarter.
More specifically, exercising can increase neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to change and form new neural connections over time. Neuroplasticity occurs every day as our brain learns information and creates new connections.
Increasing brain plasticity has many benefits, including:
Recovering from events like strokes and injuries;
Enhancing some areas to make up for lost functions;
Increasing e...

What comes to mind when you think of self-care? Is it buying yourself expensive gifts? Is it paying for 90-minute massage sessions?
Self-care doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. In fact, some of the best things you can do for yourself are entirely free.
Here are five ways to incorporate self-care into your daily routine:
Exercise
Exercise is perhaps the ultimate form of self-care. Everything from lifting weights to jogging helps contribute to your physical and mental health in so man...

University of Austin psychology professor Dr. James Pennebaker believes that people can use writing to understand their emotions, improve their health, and even change their lives. He has written books such as Writing to Heal and Opening Up, where he explores the therapeutic effects of writing proven by years of research.

Is something weighing on your mind or keeping you up at night? Pennebaker proposes an exercise known as expressive writing.

For four days, take 15-20 minutes to write about ...

Many young people aren’t actively saving for retirement. A 2019 GOBankingRates survey found that 45% of Americans have 0% in their savings accounts. Almost 70% of Americans have under $1,000 saved.

Most respondents said they weren’t saving more because they were busy living paycheck to paycheck. One-fifth claimed that their cost of living was too high to save money.

Younger generations such as millennials have many money problems, which makes it harder for them to prepare for retirement. Howe...