HHS Acts to Beef Up Security for Portal Serving Insurance Brokers, AgentsFederal regulators are working to shore up security of systems that support Obamacare in time for open enrollment season, which launches on Nov. 1, following the revelation of a breach of a portal used by insurance agents and brokers that exposed data of 75,000 individuals. […]

Separately, a Water Utility Hit by Ryuk Ransomware Vows to Restore, Not PayA tale of two different ransomware victims' responses: One Connecticut city says it had little choice but to pay a ransom to restore crypto-locked systems. But a North Carolina water utility hit separately says that rather than bow to criminals' demands, it will rebuild affected systems and databases. […]

'Project Lakhta' Allegedly Poured Millions Into Promoting Social ConflictA Russian national has been charged with coordinating a four-year campaign to spread divisive themes aimed at disrupting the U.S. political system. "Project Lakhta" allegedly employed hundreds of individuals who created bogus accounts on such platforms as Facebook and Twitter to sow false narratives. […]

Vigilante Hacker Is Killing Unpatched Routers' Remote Administration AbilityCryptojackers and eavesdroppers are continuing to exploit a one-time zero-day flaw in unpatched MikroTik routers, despite a patch that's been available for six months as well as the actions of a vigilante "gray hat" hacker who's forcibly "fixed" 100,000 vulnerable routers. […]

The FDIC has announced a series of steps intended to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of Illinois affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes. […]

Five federal regulatory agencies encourage financial institutions to work with customers affected by the federal government shutdown. […]

The FFIEC on Oct. 7 issued a joint statement concerning Microsoft's discontinuation of support for its Windows XP operating system as of April 8, 2014. […]