Top News – Ransomware payments reach $1 billion in 2023; Privacy Sandbox not feasible according to IAB; and more

Google’s Privacy Sandbox is not feasible according to IAB

The IAB Tech Lab’s Privacy Sandbox Task Force analyzed up to 44 basic digital advertising use cases, such as audience creation and lookalike modeling, to find that the majority of the use cases are not feasible. The analysis of the business impact found that the APIs don’t address fundamental use cases, according to Tech Lab CEO Tony Kastur, who went on to say that “many of the building blocks in the Privacy Sandbox aren’t effective or robust enough and in some cases they’re simply dysfunctional.” We can expect Google’s published response to the Tech Lab’s report soon. Read more

Report on Connecticut Data Privacy Act released by AG

With the intention of educating consumers about organizations about the CTDPA and enforcing compliance, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong released a report on the Act. The report includes early enforcement efforts, with reference to Privacy Policies, Sensitive Data, Teen Data, and Data brokers. The report also includes legislative recommendations to strengthen the privacy protections under the Act. The report can be found here. Read more

FTC takes action against company for lax security practices

The Federal Trade Commission’s order requires cloud computing and data services provider BlackBaud to delete personal data that is no longer needed and increase their data security measures following a breach that led the hacker to access the PI, including the social security and bank account numbers of millions of consumers. According to the FTC, the company failed to erase data that was no longer needed, implement multi-factor authentication, and properly test its security controls, amongst other things. Read more

Best practices guide released by IAB Europe

Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Europe released its updated best practices guide as a valuable resource for the various stakeholders in the supply chain. The initial release of the guide was published in September 2021, while the 2024 edition has a special focus on sustainability best practices. IAB Europe will also host a webinar on 7 March at 12:00 CET to delve deeper into the elements of quality in digital advertising. Read more

2023 saw ransomware payments reach $1.1 billion

Chainalysis, a blockchain research firm, analyzed the transactions made by ransomware gangs and cybercriminals in 2023 to find that the amounts paid to buy back stolen data reached $1.1 billion. 2023 saw high-profile institutions being targeted, as well as hospitals, schools, and government agencies. The Clop ransomware group was responsible for around 45% of all attacks in June of 2023, making about $100 million after its attack on MOVEit. Ransomware expert Allan Liska does not expect a decrease in 2024 due to the profitability of such attacks. Read more