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Ransomware attack strikes Nygard IT systems on Dec. 12, receiver company assessing impact

December 31, 2020/in Internet Security

Peter Nygard will ring in the new year behind jail bars, while the company in control of Nygard’s assets recovers from a ransomware attack that impacted dozens of computer servers linked to the Nygard IT system.

RCMP and Winnipeg police arrested Nygard on Dec. 14 in relation to a nine-count indictment in the United States accusing the 79-year-old of racketeering, sex trafficking and other related crimes. He is currently in custody at the Winnipeg Remand Centre.

While in court on Dec. 15, Justice Sheldon Lanchbery said Nygard would be held in jail until Jan. 13, 2021. But on Thursday, Nygard’s bail application was set for 10 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2021.

A total of 57 women have joined a class-action suit, filed in New York earlier this year, accusing Nygard of rape, sexual assault and human trafficking dating back to 1977.

The class action was put on hold in August after a judge presiding over the case in the Southern District of New York entered a stay of proceeding so that the FBI could complete its investigation, according to court documents.

U.S. authorities asked Canada law enforcement to issue an warrant for Nygard’s arrest through the two countries’ extradition treaty. (YouTube)

The FBI is urging anyone who believes they are a victim of the sexual abuse perpetrated by Nygard to contact them at 1-800-225-5324.

No allegations have been proven in court.

Nygard IT system hacked

Richter Advisory Group Inc., the court-appointed receiver of Nygard’s assets, says Nygard IT servers were a victim of a ransomware attack, according to a court document dated Dec. 30.

Informanix — a third-party IT consultant hired to preserve digital records — and the Nygard IT staff were working to recover records and computer servers impacted by a November power outage in northwestern Winnipeg when they had to pivot to deal with a ransomware attack on Dec. 12.

The ransomware attack — a type of malware attack where the perpetrator locks and encrypts the victim’s data and demands payment to unlock and decrypt the data — compromised “certain electronic records, programs and IT infrastructure of the Nygard organization, including the debtors,” the court document says.

But “by…

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Assessing the New Normal for Cybersecurity

December 14, 2020/in Mobile Security

As work from home continues, cyberthreats related to the new normal will remain even post-pandemic

“Pandemic” was the word of the year, with runners up including quarantine, coronavirus and asymptomatic. They make sense, of course, but two phrases that should also be included in that list are “remote worker” (or work from home, take your pick) and “new normal.”

In the cybersecurity world, everything revolved the remote worker as soon as the pandemic hit the country hard. How do you connect them securely? How do you keep them from making mistakes that could lead to cyberthreats? The challenge was real, and it will continue to vex cybersecurity teams for a long time because, well, this is our new normal.

In a survey of 600 IT security professionals, conducted by Check Point, 47% of respondents said security for employees working remotely will be the leading challenge going into 2021, while 61% said it is going to a top priority for the next two years. And exactly half said that there will be no return to pre-pandemic cybersecurity norms.

“For many, the rapid changes they made to their networks and security infrastructures in response to the pandemic will be permanent,” Mark Ostrowski, head of engineering at Check Point, said in a formal statement. “Dealing with the impact of the pandemic on business operations, and ensuring they can continue to operate as efficiently and as securely as possible will be the biggest ongoing challenge for most enterprises.”

Where the New Normal Is

Organizations saw a major shift in cybersecurity in 2020. “Ninety-five percent of respondents said their strategies had changed in the second half of the year, the biggest being enabling remote working at scale,” the report stated. “This was followed by security education for employees; improving network security and threat prevention; expanded endpoint and mobile security, and rapid adoption of cloud technologies.” And for the majority, the response to the pandemic required unplanned reinventions to their cybersecurity business model, leaving little room to work on projects initially planned for 2020.

The most major shift that this pandemic has created for organizations in…

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