Cyber Security News & Trends
This week, SonicWall warnings about school districts under cyberattack prove prophetic as a new bill to protect K-12 districts is introduced, and do you know that the first ransomware attack was 30 years ago?
SonicWall Spotlight
US Senators Introduce Bill to Protect Schools Against Cyber-Threats – Infosecurity Magazine
- SonicWall CEO Bill Conner weighs in on the importance of cybersecurity in school districts, commenting on a new bill introduced to the US House of Representatives this week. The bill is designed to enhance the cybersecurity of K–12 schools in a year where they have suffered heavily under cyberattacks.
Cybersecurity News
Hackers Steal Data for 15 Million Patients, Then Sell It Back to Lab That Lost It – Ars Technica
- Canada’s biggest provider of lab testing services has confirmed it suffered a data breach, with info as old as 2016 accessed. It has also admitted that it made “a payment” to the hackers to retrieve the data, without disclosing exactly how much was paid.
Oil and Gas Industry Risks Escalate, Cybersecurity Should Be Prioritized – HelpNetSecurity
- A new in-depth report draws on a decade’s worth of cyberattack data in the oil and gas industries, calling for a strengthening of cybersecurity as the risks continue to escalate.
Mobile Devices Account for 41% of DDoS Attack Traffic – Dark Reading
- While the image DDoS attacks conjure up might be one of racks of computers all being harnessed, the reality right now is that around half of the traffic is now coming from mobile and IoT devices. A newly released report on DDoS attacks looking deeply into the current DDoS threat landscape also finds that China, Turkey, the US, and South Korea are the main sources of the attacks.
WhatsApp Updated to Patch Bug That Allows Attacker to Crash Group Chats – Washington Times
- Another WhatsApp bug has been discovered and patched. This particular vulnerability allowed a user to send a malicious message to a group chat that would cause the app on every participant’s mobile device to continuously crash.
Maze Ransomware Gang Dumps Purported Victim List – BankInfoSecurity
- In the latest escalation of ransomware attacks, the gang behind the Maze ransomware is threatening to name and shame victims if they do not pay the ransom. Proving they can make good on their threat, last month the gang published data stolen from a security services firm who did not pay.
10 Cybersecurity Stories in 2019 That Make Us Feel Less Secure – Tech Republic
- Before looking to the future, we have to look to the past. Tech Republic lists the top 10 2019 cybersecurity stories that worry them the most, including the Capital One breach, juice jacking, and the number of adware attacks like xHelper and Joker in the Android ecosystem.
And Finally
- Thirty years ago, the first ransomware attack was launched… on a floppy disk… with a PO Box to pay the ransom by postal order or check.
In Case You Missed It
- A Hard Study in Ransomware: Education Being Held Hostage – Brook Chelmo
- Smarter Cybersecurity: How SecOps Can Simplify Security Management, Oversight & Real-Time Decision-Making – Ken Dang
- E-rate Funding 2020: Use It or Lose It? – Holly Davis
- 10 Reasons to Upgrade to the Latest SonicWall NSa Firewall – Brook Chelmo
- My Workspace: Streamlining Asset Management for MSSPs – Suroop Chandran
- SonicWall Simplifies Day-to-Day Operations for MSSPs – Robert (Bob) VanKirk
