Healthcare CEO Peer Advisory Group

August 4, 2021

Opening Discussion Topic:

ABL Healthcare Zoom Table Event: Defending Yourself and Your Company from Cyberattacks – Presented by Cyber Experts

If it seems to you that cyber criminals are targeting healthcare, it’s not your imagination: they are! The FBI reported in March that its Internet Crime Report showed a 300-400% increase in cyberattack complaints in 2020. And, in the first six months of 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that cyberattacks increased by 27%; in fact, during the first half of 2021, healthcare was only behind technology as the most attacked industry.

At the conclusion of last month’s ABL-Health OC Reunion Table, when the issue was briefly addressed, our Member Oli Thordarson, CEO of Alvaka Networks, volunteered to bring us a 5-star panel of Cybercrime and Ransomware experts. As Oli attests: “The horsepower of experienced cyber breach professionals I have brought to the table is as good as it gets. These guys are the short list team the insurance companies are seeking when the dollars at risk are huge.”

After our Members share their personal or companies’ “cyberwarfare stories,” Oli will overview the topic, and introduce the panel of experts, direct from the battle against cybercrime – and the multimillion-dollar ransoms they extort – on a daily basis. And he should know, as over the past nearly 40 years, he’s built an impressive network monitoring and management service firm, that has also become a leader in mitigating cyber risk, and helping organizations rebuild their data infrastructure when cyber criminals do manage to intrude.

Dave Cunningham, Alvaka’s Business Technology Officer, has found that typically 95% of ransomware attacks can be easily prevented, so he’ll share best practices for not getting hacked in the first place. That said, when organizations – typically not Alvaka clients – are hacked, Dave is usually the first consultant on the job to advise them about the “journey to recovery,” on which they are embarking. As the recovery progresses, he often stays on doing project management for them.

Len Tateyama, Alvaka’s Director of IT, has headed the largest ransomware recoveries the company’s been involved with – for companies with valuations over $150 billion US. He’s also worked as the lead technical person on some of Alvaka’s large healthcare company recoveries. Previously Len ran IT at some of the nation’s largest financial institutions.

Pierson E. Clair IV is Managing Director, Cyber Risk, at Kroll. For years, Pierson has been a leading digital forensic examiner, technical security consultant, researcher, and educator at the forefront of cyber risk – who’s particularly knowledgeable on the Mac and mobile device hardware and software. (Perhaps they aren’t as secure as many of us believe?) He’s also worked on special projects with Homeland Security, Secret Service’s LA Electronic Crimes Task Force, and the wider U.S. Intelligence Community.

Scott Koller, a Partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP, is a skilled privacy and data security attorney who has extensive experience counseling clients on privacy and data protection issues, including data breach response, cybersecurity risk management, incident response planning and preparedness, vendor management, security compliance issues, and regulatory investigations.

Past Meetings Topics: