Tag Archive for: usage

Rapid7 Says ROI for Ransomware Remains High; Zero-Day Usage Expands


The Rapid7 mid-year review of the threat landscape is not reassuring. Ransomware remains high, basic security defenses are not being used, security maturity is low, and the return on investment for criminality is potentially enormous.

The review is compiled from the observations of Rapid7’s researchers and its managed services teams. It finds there were more than 1500 ransomware victims worldwide in H1 2023. These included 526 LockBit victims, 212 Alphv/BlackCat victims, 178 ClOp victims, and 133 BianLian victims. The figures are compiled from leak site communications, public disclosures, and Rapid7 incident response data.

These figures should be seen as conservative. They won’t include organizations that quietly and successfully pay the ransom as if nothing happened. Furthermore, downstream victims are still being calculated  – for example, notes the report, “The number of incidents attributed to Cl0p in this chart is likely to be (significantly) low, since the group is still actively claiming new victims from their May 2023 zero-day attack on MOVEit Transfer.”

Ransomware is successful for two reasons: the very high profit potential for the criminals, and the inadequate security posture of many potential targets. Three factors illustrate the latter. Firstly, nearly 40% of incidents were caused by missing or lax enforcement of MFA (multi factor authentication) – despite many years of exhortations to implement this basic defense.

Secondly, the general security posture remains low for many organizations. Rapid7 consultants have performed multiple security assessments for clients, “with only a single organization so far in 2023 meeting our minimum recommendations for security maturity, as measured against CIS and NIST benchmarks.”

While security for these companies may well improve after the assessment, the figures illustrate that a substantial number of organizations fail to meet minimum standards for security.

Thirdly, and reinforcing the second factor, old vulnerabilities remain successful for the attackers. “Two notable examples from 1H 2023 are CVE-2021-20038, a Rapid7-discovered vulnerability in SonicWall SMA 100 series devices, and CVE-2017-1000367, a…

Source…

Proton VPN maps VPN usage to resist censorship


In the wake of sudden oppressive censorship, citizens flood to VPN services so they can unblock restricted platforms, apps, sites, news, and content. Because of this, popular cybersecurity company Proton has launched a new site to monitor those usage spikes to act as an alarm bell when sudden censorship takes place.

It’s been quite a while since the internet stopped being the open and free space we all knew and loved. Authorities worldwide are increasingly imposing full or partial internet shutdowns in times of crisis or geopolitical conflict. In 2022 alone, the web went dark 187 times across 35 countriesan all-time high for internet shutdowns that 2023 will likely beat.

Source…

“Augmented usage of ransomware as a service platform, a SaaS model for eCrime”


CrowdStrike Inc., a global cybersecurity leader, recently released the 2022 CrowdStrike Global Threat Report. According to the annual Global Threat Report, the threat landscape saw a number of significant shifts and trends.

From a significant increase in interactive intrusions to the proliferation of access brokers on the dark web, and the re-weaponization of vulnerabilities, the report paints a picture of a threat landscape that is becoming increasingly sophisticated and difficult to defend against and an area of grave worry.

Adam Meyers, Head of Intelligence at CrowdStrike delved into an insightful interaction with Minu Sirsalewala Executive Editor – Special Projects, Dataquest about the trends and what they mean for organizations going forward.  Meyers has over 20 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry and is an expert in cyber threat intelligence and investigations.

Meyers speaks about the most significant findings in the report and offers some practical advice on improving response times, to more strategic considerations for developing a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, he offers valuable insights for organizations looking to stay ahead of the curve and secure their digital assets.

How have the last 12 months been like, and what do you envision the next 12 months?

To start with, I think the biggest story or the biggest concern that people should have is the trend towards data exploitation. We have seen threat actors from the eCrime world, nation, and state threat actors and hacktivists, all weaponizing data against their victims, and that’s the most concerning area and we have pointed out in the report that 28% of ransomware actors are no longer even bothering to do ransomware. They are moving surely to data extortion, and this is significant, because they are able to expand their target set, and they are able to get more money from the victim. As with data extortion, they can actually make more money, because the fundamental model of ransomware is to cause downtime, and that downtime can be measured in financial dollars and cents. But it is not about downtime, it’s about the legal, regulatory and compliance impact of the data…

Source…

Agrivoltaics Is A Land Usage Hack For Maximum Productivity


Land tends to be a valuable thing. Outside of some weird projects in Dubai, by and large, they aren’t making any more of it. That means as we try to feed and power the ever-growing population of humanity, we need to think carefully about how we use the land we have.

The field of agrivoltaics concerns itself with the dual-use of land for both food production and power generation. It’s all about getting the most out of the the available land and available sunlight we have.

Two Things At Once

The world has limited land that is suitable for food production. Prime agricultural land is prized for its ability to grow crops at high yields. This often comes down to factors like favorable soils, readily-available water supplies, and plenty of sunlight.

As it turns out, though, agricultural land is perfect for installing solar panels, too. Solar installations want as much sun as possible, and they don’t like getting too hot. The cooler, moist conditions of farming lands make them more attractive than deserts for solar panels, as the lower temperatures help the panels remain in their most efficient operating range.

Vineyards can potentially add solar power as a revenue stream, while simultaneously reaping the benefits of less water loss due to the shade provided. Credit: SunAgri, press release

Thus, for land with plenty of sun and mild conditions, it makes sense to try and use it for both food production and power generation. The field of agrivoltaics concerns itself with finding optimum methods to achieve this.

The most important consideration is one of shade. If the solar panels are installed without due care, there will be insufficient sunlight to grow any meaningful produce. At that point, you’re just doing photovoltaics, and you’ve thrown the agriculture out the window. Typically, the trick is to raise the panels at a significant height off the ground to allow workers and machinery to access the crops below. This does add significant cost, which is the trade-off for such combined installations.

When it comes to agrivoltaics, plant choice is key. Those that grow well in shady conditions are ideal, while those that require full sun are a poor choice. Tomatoes, lettuce,…

Source…