Most ransomware attacks begin with some combination of phishing and social engineering. An enterprising ransomware gang in Nigeria appears to be skipping this messy step, simply making a direct pitch to employees to join in on the attack.
Cyber Security
Cyber criminals, state-sponsored hackers and even the occasional disgruntled employee are constantly looking to gain unauthorized access for a variety of purposes: theft of money, cyber espionage, personal information for sale or for use in scams, and damage to critical infrastructure for just a few of the most common.
So how does an organization mitigate an entire world full of continual cyber attacks? Just as buildings have a number of necessary elements of physical security: access control, cameras, alarms and so on; there are similar key elements of cyber security that are absolutely vital for just about any modern business.
It starts with identifying and closing the most common doors that attackers use. For example, phishing attacks on employees are far and away the most common initial point of entry. The breach of even a low-level employee account can quickly turn into an escalation in access privileges and the ability to reach sensitive information. This is also true of smart devices, which are generally more poorly secured than computers and phones.
Crypto exchange Liquid, one Japan's most popular exchanges, is now short $97 million in total assets after a cyber attack that pulled funds directly from the wallets of some of its customers.
Supply chain vulnerability in the ThroughTek "Kalay" network, a cloud-based communications platform used by an estimated 83 million IoT devices, could allow for remote compromise and control.
Holding companies legally accountable, sharing information, and creating shared security standards won’t completely eradicate ransomware attacks. But they will make it considerably harder to carry out those attacks successfully.
Security vulnerability that impacts an older form of a BlackBerry industrial systems OS, still in use in both industrial settings and hospital equipment, was discovered by Microsoft researchers in April of this year. Many are only now learning about it.
Report found that Russian intelligence agencies FSB and SVR collaborated with ransomware gangs to compromise US government-affiliated organizations using cybercriminals tools and infrastructure.
With the executive order signed, leading industry standards organizations should be heavily involved to help apply standards and regulations to make sure all connected devices have a proper level of security to create a secure ecosystem and prevent further critical infrastructure attacks.
Hackers published one million stolen credit cards on the dark web to attract cybercriminals to their recently launched carding site. Up to 50% of the cards are active.
The only way to keep a company’s defense up-to-date against ransomware attacks is with constant proactive activity from well-engineered cybersecurity teams.
T-Mobile appears to have suffered a devastating data breach as a reported 100 million records have appeared for sale on a dark web forum. The customer data is about as sensitive as possible, containing accurate Social Security and driver's license numbers.










