Tag Archive for: Ransomware
How Managed Detection and Response Keeps Businesses Safe from Ransomware
Like most firms, LEO A DALY still faces an onslaught of phishing attempts, but its systems and people are able to stop them from progressing. Just recently, employees received text messages and emails purportedly from a company president. Multiple recipients questioned their legitimacy and reported them to IT. “They could have also hit the phishing alert button,” Held adds.
All the steps the firm has taken have moved it along the path toward zero trust, a holistic security mindset. One aspect of zero trust is least-privilege access. “You don’t have to open the door so wide that criminals can squeeze through along with your own people,” says Jim Taylor, chief product officer at RSA Security. “Only give people access to things that they need.”
Another component is no implied trust — always validate. “In the old world, where we could put a firewall up, we built a moat and a fence, we had a perimeter,” explains Taylor. “That doesn’t exist in the modern world. We all access Software as a Service. You can’t build a wall around the world. The criminals are on the inside. So, identify what’s important and secure those assets.”
The industry is moving in the right direction, Taylor adds. “I can honestly say, hand on heart, that this is one of the most exciting times in security,” he says. “It’s always been, ‘Oh, we’ll get to it. Security’s really important,’ but it’s No. 5 on the list. Companies are taking it seriously now.”
READ MORE: Find out what tools you need to build a zero-trust environment.
Lean on Cybersecurity Professionals For Help
The ransomware attack could have gone very differently for BCU. The vulnerability came from a phone vendor that leveraged Kaseya. BCU could have lost its phone system indefinitely, a significant blow to any financial institution, Jauregui says.
He was brought in to help guard against such threats. He started in February 2020, one month before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The company already had CrowdStrike, which eased his mind, but with only four people on his team, two of whom were new to cybersecurity, he needed help. In addition to growing the team — he now has 10 team members — he suggested…
Ransomware drives ‘interesting outcomes’ for cyber co-insurance
The rise in cyber attacks, and specifically ransomware incidents, has brought about “some very interesting changes” for the class of cyber insurance, Daniel Carr (pictured), head of Cyber at Ariel Re, told Intelligent Insurer.
Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, Ariel Re, Technology, Cyber, Ransomware, Risk Management, Insurance, Reinsurance,
National Critical Infrastructure Under Attack: Clop Ransomware
On August 15, 2022, a U.K. water supplier suffered disrupted essential services within their corporate IT systems. The hackers used a remote access software platform that had been dormant for months.
This is another NCI nation-state ransomware attack.
The recent criminal cyber activity on the IT infrastructure on Monday caused a U.K. water supplier to experience a disturbance in its corporate IT systems. The company insists that its water delivery was unaffected. The UK water company confirmed they activated their continuity of operations plan and cybersecurity response plan, along with notifying the United Kingdom’s legal authorities.
According to a report on Bleepingcomputer, the Clop ransomware gang claimed responsibility for an attack on a U.K. water company. The cybercriminals claim the Thames Water and not South Staffordshire was the target. The fallout from the cyber attack against the UK water system
The SCADA systems were allegedly breached by the Clop ransomware, which threatened to harm the consumers of the UK water supply. Despite not encrypting the PCs of its victims, the gang claims to have accessed 5 Terabytes of data during the attack. Even with several layers of critical infrastructure controls, this type of activity continues to be a global problem, not just in the UK.
Clop is a ransomware variant of the CryptoMix developed in Russia. Clop employs several strategies to evade discovery and prevent analysis. To prevent the file from executing if it detects that it is running in an emulated environment, the virus uses anti-analysis and anti-virtual machine (VM) tactics. Additionally, the ransomware tries to deactivate Windows Defender and remove Microsoft Security Essentials.
As Industrial systems connect with the internet to leverage cloud analytics, the devices have become more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Industrial control systems (ICS) and the internet of things (IoT) are specifically vulnerable to cyber threats because of improper OT security systems and vulnerabilities within the product.
During production, critical infrastructure equipment such as intelligent building control systems, fire and safety systems, traffic control systems, intelligent…