The most sophisticated technology in the world is not enough to combat phishing scams. which aren’t designed to break through firewalls or circumvent email gateways or endpoint security.
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.
Ransomware attack on the cloud computing company Rackspace caused email outages for thousands of customers forcing it to transfer customers from its Hosted Exchange service to Microsoft 365.
Ransomware gangs regularly add new tactics and twists to their playbooks to increase pressure on victims. The latest development comes from the Ragnar Locker group, who are now threatening to publish sensitive information if the victim even makes contact with authorities.
The Ragnarok ransomware gang has scrubbed its public presence from the dark web, leaving behind a master decryptor key at the "leak site" it used to blackmail its victims.
A major threat actor has been crippled by an international law enforcement action, as the Lumma infostealer malware operation saw its control panel seized along with infrastructure dwelling in Europe and Japan. This was supplemented by Microsoft seizing some 2,300 domains belonging to the group, which has infected over 394,000 Windows computers globally.
Criminal gangs behind ransomware attacks will continue to adapt their techniques to maximize their returns. They are increasingly using novel tactics to circumvent traditional security solutions and one of the most significant shifts is that attacks involving data exfiltration are now the norm.
Far from sensationalizing ransomware attacks, our response should be to return to the basics of cybersecurity. This requires a converged IT-OT security strategy to limit damage and protect valuable assets.
Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) is an emerging technology that has been constantly evolving and has come of age as a solution to stop ransomware attacks, including double extortion.
A ransomware attack at Coca-Cola’s Fairlife dairy has temporarily suspended U.S. operations after the company shut down some production-related systems to contain the threat.
A ransomware attack on fintech firm Marquis Software Solutions has impacted at least 74 banks and credit unions across multiple states, leaking customer data of over 400,000 people.










