Cybersecurity News & Trends – 05-01-20

This week, COVID-19 continued to be a boon for opportunistic hackers, who targeted everything from federal stimulus funds, to package recipients, to John Wick 3.

SonicWall Spotlight

Cutting Business Expenses Shouldn’t Include Cybersecurity – Channel Futures

• HoJin Kim explains how Boundless Cybersecurity’s emphasis on scalable economics is helping companies secure their networks during the current economic downturn.

Social Distancing For IoT—No, You Aren’t Paranoid When You Say It! – PC Quest

• Debasish Mukherjee, VP of regional sales APAC at SonicWall, discusses how the world of cybersecurity compares to the race to find a cure for the novel coronavirus.

COVID-19 Impact: Health and Wellbeing of Employees Have Taken Precedence – Arabian Reseller

• Mohamad Abdallah, regional director for META, speaks about how COVID-19 has impacted business at SonicWall and the contingency plans the company has put into place in case the crisis persists or continues to worsen.

Cybersecurity News

Scammers pounce as stimulus checks start flowing – The Hill

• The ongoing taxpayer stimulus is increasingly being targeted by scammers, who see the funds as easy pickings during the ongoing crisis.

FCC Only Partially Improved Its Cybersecurity Posture, GAO Says – Security Week

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has yet to fully address security weaknesses in its systems, a newly published report from the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals.

Shade Ransomware shuts down, releases 750K decryption keys – Bleeping Computer

• The operators behind the Shade Ransomware (Troldesh) have shut down their operations, released over 750,000 decryption keys, and apologized for the harm they caused their victims.

Hackers spoof SBA to try to compromise companies’ computers – Cyberscoop

• It isn’t just the taxpayer stimulus being targeted by bad actors—the funds distributed by the U.S. Small Business Administration to companies affected by COVID-19 are also in their crosshairs.

The Covid-19 Pandemic Reveals Ransomware’s Long Game – Wired

• Hackers laid the groundwork months ago for attacks. Now they’re flipping the game.

Lucy malware for Android adds file-encryption for ransomware ops – Bleeping Computer

• A threat actor focusing on Android systems has expanded their malware-as-a-service (MaaS) business with file-encrypting capabilities for ransomware operations.

COVID-19’s impact on package deliveries creates golden opportunity for scammers  – SC Magazine

• Cybercriminals are using the disruption caused by COVID-19 to pose as delivery companies, as they attempt to swindle businesses into opening malicious emails or handing over their credentials.

Microsoft warns of malware-laced ‘John Wick 3,’ ‘Contagion’ movie torrents – Cyberscoop

• Tens of thousands of internet users have been infected with malware as they attempt to torrent popular movies and wind up downloading more than they intended.

In Case You Missed It

• Why Securing Remote Work is Crucial To Ensuring Business Continuity – Agasthiamani Sankaran
• Securing Telecommuters with Expanded Endpoint Visibility and Control – Suroop Chandran
• ‘Boundless Cybersecurity’ Protects Organizations Mobilizing for the New Business Normal – Geoff Blaine
• The New Front in Hospitals’ Battle Against COVID-19: Ransomware – Amber Wolff
• SonicWall Unveils Partner Program Designed for MSSPs – Lindsey Lockheart

Amber Wolff

Senior Digital Copywriter | SonicWall

Amber Wolff is the Senior Digital Copywriter for SonicWall. Prior to joining the SonicWall team, Amber was a cybersecurity blogger and content creator, covering a wide variety of products and topics surrounding enterprise security. She spent the earlier part of her career in advertising, where she wrote and edited for a number of national clients.