Cybersecurity News & Trends

This week, SonicWall was recognized as one of the coolest network security companies of 2021. Less cool: a huge spate of cyberattacks targeting the NSA, hospitals, universities, airlines, IT companies and even Apple’s new M1 silicon.


SonicWall in the News

The 20 Coolest Network Security Companies of 2021: The Security 100 — CRN

  • SonicWall was included on CRN’s list of the 20 Coolest Network Security Companies.

The Top 6 Enterprise VPNs To Use in 2021 — TechRepublic

  • SonicWall’s Global VPN Client is cited as one of the top VPNs for enterprises.

Experts Blast SMBs’ “Head In The Sand” Approach To Cyber Security — IT PRO

  • From failing to patch exposed VPNs to meeting ransom demands, businesses are playing a role in fueling the threat landscape.

Industry News

Hackers Tied to Russia’s GRU Targeted the US Grid for Years, Researchers Warn — Wired

  • A Sandworm-adjacent group has successfully breached U.S. critical infrastructure a handful of times, according to new findings from the security firm Dragos.

COVID pandemic causes spike in cyberattacks against hospitals, medical companies — ZDNet

  • IBM says attack rates have doubled against medical entities since the pandemic began.

After Russian Cyberattack, Looking for Answers and Debating Retaliation — The New York Times

  • Key senators and corporate executives warned that the “scope and scale” of the SolarWinds attack were unclear, and that the attack might still be ongoing.

LazyScripter hackers target airlines with remote access trojans — Bleeping Computer

  • Security researchers believe they uncovered activity belonging to a previously unidentified actor fitting the description of an advanced persistent threat (APT).

10K Targeted in Phishing Attacks Spoofing FedEx, DHL Express — Dark Reading

  • The two campaigns aimed to steal victims’ business email account credentials by posing as the shipping companies.

NASA and the FAA were also breached by the SolarWinds hackers — Bleeping Computer

  • NASA and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have reportedly also been compromised by the nation-state hackers behind the SolarWinds supply-chain attack.

Ransomware: Sharp rise in attacks against universities as learning goes online — ZDNet

  • Higher education is struggling with ransomware attacks, with gangs seeing an easy target in institutions busy making the switch to remote operations.

Finnish IT Giant Hit with Ransomware Cyberattack — Threat Post

  • A major Finnish IT provider has been hit with ransomware, forcing the company to turn off some services and infrastructure while it takes recovery measures.

Chinese spyware code was copied from America’s NSA: researchers — The Wall Street Journal

  • Chinese spies used code first developed by the U.S. National Security Agency to support their hacking operations — another example of how malicious software developed by governments can boomerang against their creators.

Malware monsters target Apple’s M1 silicon with ‘Silver Sparrow’ — The Register

  • U.S. security consultancy Red Canary says it’s found macOS malware written specifically for the shiny new M1 silicon that Apple created to power its post-Intel Macs.

Global Accellion data breaches linked to Clop ransomware gang — Bleeping Computer

  • Financially motivated hacker groups combined multiple zero-day vulnerabilities and a new web shell to breach up to 100 companies using Accellion’s legacy File Transfer Appliance.

In Case You Missed It

Cybersecurity News & Trends

This week was a good one for the rule of law, as a number of cybercriminals involved in ransomware, phishing and cryptocurrency theft were brought to justice.


SonicWall in the News

2021 Channel Chiefs: Robert (Bob) VanKirk — CRN

  • Robert (Bob) VanKirk has been named one of CRN’s Channel Chiefs for 2021.

2021 Channel Chiefs: HoJin Kim — CRN

  • HoJin Kim has been named one of CRN’s Channel Chiefs for 2021.

2021 Channel Chiefs: David Bankemper — CRN

  • David Bankemper has been named one of CRN’s Channel Chiefs for 2021.

Industry News

North Korea Turning to Cryptocurrency Schemes in Global Heists, U.S. Says — The Wall Street Journal

  • The U.S. Justice Department has charged North Koreans hackers in wide-ranging scheme that includes attempts to steal $1.3 billion for Pyongyang.

Nigerian man sentenced 10 years for $11 million phishing scam — Cyberscoop

  • The sentence comes as the cost of email scams continues to rise, plaguing U.S. businesses.

Cred-stealing trojan harvests logins from Chromium browsers, Outlook and more, warns Cisco Talos — The Register

  • A credential-stealing trojan is capable of lifting your login details from the Chrome browser, Microsoft’s Outlook and instant messengers.

NIST hints at upgrades to its system for scoring a phish’s deceptiveness — SC Magazine

  • Officials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) this week teased future improvements to its “Phish Scale,” which helps companies determine whether phishing emails are hard or easy for their employees to detect.

Egregor Arrests a Blow, but Ransomware Will Likely Bounce Back — Dark Reading

  • Similar to previous ransomware takedowns, this disruption to the ransomware-as-a-service model will likely be short-lived, security experts say.

SolarWinds attack hit 100 companies and took months of planning, says White House — ZDNet

  • The White House warns the SolarWinds attack was more than espionage, because the private sector targets could lead to follow-up attacks.

Senate Intel leader demands answers on Florida water treatment center breach — The Hill

  • Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has demanded answers regarding the investigation into the recent attempt to breach and poison the water supply in a Florida city.

Rising healthcare breaches driven by hacking and unsecured servers — Bleeping Computer

  • 2020 was a bad year for healthcare organizations in the U.S., which had to deal with record-high cybersecurity incidents on the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bitcoin hits new record of $50,000 — BBC

  • The cryptocurrency, which was created by an unknown inventor, has risen about 72% this year.

270 addresses are responsible for 55% of all cryptocurrency money laundering — ZDNet

  • Most cryptocurrency money laundering is concentrated in a few online services, opening the door for law-enforcement actions.

Microsoft asks government to stay out of its cyber attack response in Australia — ZDNet

  • Government intervention would result in a “Fog of War,” further complicating any attempt to mitigate cyberattack response, the company said.

France’s cyber-agency says Centreon IT management software sabotaged by Russian Sandworm — The Register

  • Web hosts were infiltrated for up to three years in an attack that somewhat resembles the SolarWinds breach.

100+ Financial Services Firms Targeted in Ransom DDoS Attacks in 2020 — Dark Reading

  • Consumer banks, exchanges, payment firms and card-issuing companies around the globe were among those hit.

Microsoft: SolarWinds attack took more than 1,000 engineers to create — ZDNet

  • Microsoft reckons that the huge attack on security vendors and more took the combined power of at least 1,000 engineers to create.

In Case You Missed It

Three SonicWall Executives Named to Annual CRN 2021 Channel Chiefs List

Three SonicWall channel team leaders have been recognized as a 2021 CRN Channel Chief. Bob VanKirk, HoJin Kim and David Bankemper made the annual list with Kim ranking in the top 25. The prestigious list recognizes leading IT channel vendor executives who continually demonstrate outstanding leadership, influence, innovation and growth.

“CRN’s 2021 Channel Chiefs list includes the industry’s biggest channel evangelists, a group of individuals who work tirelessly on behalf of their partners and drive growth through the development of strong partner programs and innovative business strategies that help bring business-critical solutions to market,” said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. “The Channel Company is proud to recognize these channel influencers and looks forward to following their continued success.”

HoJin Kim, Vice President, Worldwide Channels for SonicWall, is responsible for driving the design, development and deployment of SonicWall’s global channel efforts. He leads the implementation of the company’s modern channel strategy to build a sustainable competitive advantage for both SonicWall and its partners.

“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that things can change very quickly,” said SVP and Chief Revenue Officer Bob VanKirk, who is responsible for all SonicWall revenue streams and driving continued revenue growth. “What we’ve seen in our business, and with our partners, is that we’re both successful when we stay close to the relationships that matter most. That could be the relationships we have with our customers or our vendors. In 2021, that’s going to be even more important. The more we understand our customers’ business needs, the better we will be at using technology to address those needs and finding partners that can help us be successful.”

Prior to his current role, VanKirk was tasked with increasing top-line revenue across SonicWall’s global regions as SVP of Strategic Sales and was responsible for implementing direct customer touch across strategic accounts and key verticals such as the U.S. federal government, retail, state and local government, and education.

This year’s Channel Chief listing is the second for SonicWall Vice President of Channel Sales David Bankemper, who is an active member of the GTDC Advisory Council and the Channel Leadership Forum.

The 2021 Channel Chiefs are prominent leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies, programs and partnerships. All honorees are selected by CRN’s editorial staff based on their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments as channel advocates.

CRN’s 2021 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2021 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs.