Cybersecurity News & Trends – 03-25-22
This week, we continue to pick up new mentions for the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, including an excellent product review for Capture Client by BizTech Magazine. Our own Debasish Mukherjee, Vice President of Regional Sales APAC, was interviewed by regional industry trade journal, Express Computer. Industry news remains largely focused on national reactions to the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, with President Biden issuing an ominous-sounding warning to businesses that evolving Russian cyber threats are “coming.” Some observers added to our collective fear that undersea cables used by nearly every country around the globe are vulnerable. Meanwhile, health data of almost 50 million Americans were compromised last year, HubSpot was breached, members of the gang that hacked Okta and Microsoft were arrested in the UK, and Nestlé denies Anonymous claims that it was hacked.
SonicWall News
Securing Information in A Boundless World Is Virtually Impossible
Express Computer: An exclusive interview with Debasish Mukherjee, Vice President, Regional Sales APAC, SonicWall Inc, shares the significance of new threats to cybersecurity and the impact on Indian companies while heavily citing the SonicWall Cyber Threat Report 2022.
Review: SonicWall Capture Client Makes Security Seamless
BizTech Magazine: A recent test of SonicWall’s advanced endpoint protection solution left us impressed with its ability to provide continuous behavioral monitoring, easy threat hunting, and a multilayered heuristic approach to determining potential network anomalies. It all combines to produce highly accurate determinations of active threats with very little noise or false positives.
Irish Charity Rehab Group Targeted by Cyberattack
Silicon Republic: SonicWall’s latest cyberthreat report highlighted the variety of cybersecurity threats that increased to unprecedented levels in 2021, with ransomware attacks up 105pc and encrypted threats increasing 167pc.
Ransomware Attacks Rose 105% In 2021
Staffing Industry Analysts: There were 623 million ransomware attacks globally in 2021, an increase of 105% from the previous year, according to a report released last month by SonicWall, a San Jose, California-based cybersecurity firm. Separately, staffing firms can take steps to reduce the chance of becoming victims of such attacks.
Investing In Thematics: Big Data
Benzinga: In 2020, ransomware attacks increased by 62% globally and 158% in North America compared to 2019, citing data from the 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report. The story uses the data to conclude that malicious attacks have real consequences for business, infrastructure, and end-users beyond lost data and operational disruptions.
Mobile Traffic Dominates with Spike In Digital Fraud
IT Wire: The past year has seen a meteoric rise in ransomware incidents worldwide. Over the past 12 months, SonicWall threat researchers have diligently tracked the meteoric rise in cyberattacks and trends and activity across all threat vectors.
What Are the Biggest Ransomware Trends Facing US Businesses?
Insurance Business Magazine: SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber Threat Report described 2021 as “one of the worst years for ransomware ever recorded” as attack volume rose to a staggering 623.3 million. The number is equivalent to 2,170 ransomware attempts per customer and almost 20 attempts every second.
Big Data Cloud Computing and Cybersecurity
Seeking Alpha: In 2020, ransomware attacks increased by 62% globally and 158% in North America compared to 2019, according to the SonicWall Cyber Threat Report.
Microsoft And Okta Investigate Data Breach Claims
Silicon Republic: SonicWall’s latest cyberthreat report highlights the variety of threats that increased to unprecedented levels in 2021, with ransomware attacks up 105pc and encrypted threats increasing 167pc.
Industry News
“It’s coming”: President Biden warns of “evolving” Russian cyber threat to US
CBS News: Monday’s warning by President Biden culminated with “evolving intelligence” that suggests Russia has explored options for cyberattacks against US critical infrastructure. Biden addressed the Business Roundtable, a group of some of America’s largest corporations. He also said that “the magnitude of Russia’s cyber capability is quite consequential… and it’s coming.” Although there is no evidence of a specific threat to cybersecurity, Anne Neuberger, Biden’s deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies, explained to reporters Monday that US officials had observed “preparatory works” linking to nation-state actors. This activity could indicate an increase in US companies scanning websites and searching for vulnerabilities.
Threat Looms of Russian Attack On Undersea Cables To Shut Down West’s Internet
France 24: The twin global crises of cyber warfare and war in Ukraine have revived fears of a digital catastrophe scenario in which Russia would take over the internet, destroying its undersea cables. Since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis, this possibility has been raised many times, even by military leaders. For example, according to Guardian newspaper, Admiral Tony Radakin of the British Armed Forces stated, in January 2022, that Moscow could “put at danger and potentially exploit the real world’s information system, which are undersea cables that run all around the globe.” The influential American think tank Atlantic Council shared Radakin’s theory and published an article about the possibility of the Kremlin cutting global internet cables.
Anyone looking to disrupt cybersecurity and global connectivity will find that there are more than 430 undersea Internet cables. These cables are often seen as the weakest link in the worldwide network. They “look like large garden hoses lying at sea,” according to Tobias Liebetrau, an expert in international relations at the Danish Institute for International Studies. Except for integrated surveillance systems, which can only send alerts if there’s danger nearby, the cables don’t have any special protection.
Russian Spies Indicted in Worldwide Hacks of Energy Industry, Including Kansas Nuclear Plant
Politico: The US Department of Justice claims that three Russian spies spent five years targeting 135 countries’ energy infrastructures to allow the Russian government remote control of power stations. Wired Magazine reported that the attacks spanned 2012 to 2014. According to an indictment in Kansas’s district court, the three FSB officers — Pavel Aleksandrovich Akulov, Mikhail Mikhailovich Gavrilov, and Marat Valeryevich Tyukov — conspired to conceal malware in software updates used to control power plant equipment. This tactic, along with others, allowed the accused agents to install malware on more than 17,000 devices worldwide. These attacks were disclosed previously in 2018.
HubSpot Data Breach Ripples Through Cryptocurrency Industry
Threat Post: A HubSpot rogue employee was fired for leaking information about cryptocurrency customers. More than 135,000 customers use HubSpot. Analysts suspect the breach could affect approximately 30 crypto-companies, including BlockFi, NYDIG, Swan Bitcoin, Circle, and Pantera Capital. The breach reminds us of the amount of data CRM systems can gobble up.
Health Data Breaches Swell In 2021 Amid Hacking Surge
Politico: According to analysis, nearly 50 million Americans saw their sensitive healthcare data compromised in 2021. This is a threefold increase over the previous three years. These cybersecurity incidents were reported by health care providers, insurers and state officials last year. According to the analysis, more than half of all states and Washington, DC had more than one in 10 residents affected by unauthorized access to their health data. Hacking was responsible for almost 75% of these breaches, up from 35% in 2016.
Alleged Microsoft, Okta Hackers Arrested In UK
The Hill: British authorities arrested seven individuals on Thursday suspected of hacking major tech companies, including Okta and Microsoft, also reported by Reuters. The individuals arrested are between the ages of 16 and 21 and are likely members of the hacking group. The Verge also reported that this group had taken responsibility for some major security breaches at tech companies, including Nvidia, Samsung, and Ubisoft. On Wednesday, reports surfaced indicating an Oxford-based teenager is the mastermind of the group. City of London Police did not say if this teenager was among those arrested
Nestlé Denies Anonymous Hacked It
Fortune Magazine: Nestlé has denied claims that hacker collective Anonymous published sensitive information it stole from the Swiss food giant as punishment for doing business in Russia. Responding to increasing consumer pressure, Nestlé said it is reducing its offering of consumer brands in Russia, including Kit Kat and Nesquik, as quickly as possible in response to Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.
In Case You Missed It
- Meeting the Cybersecurity Needs of the Hybrid Workforce – Ray Wyman
- Third-Party ICSA Testing – Perfect Score Number 4 – Kayvon Sadeghi
- Ransomware is Everywhere – Amber Wolff
- Shields Up: Preparing for Cyberattacks During Ukraine Crisis – Aria Eslambolchizadeh
- Capture Client 3.7: Rapid Threat Hunting with Deep Visibility and Storylines – Suroop Chandran
- 2021 Threat Intelligence Shows Attacks Rising Across the Board – Amber Wolff
- Break Free with SonicWall Boundless 2022 – Terri O’Leary
- SonicWall’s Bob VanKirk, HoJin Kim & David Bankemper Earn 2022 CRN Channel Chief Recognition – Bret Fitzgerald
- Don’t Let Global Supply Chain Issues Impact Your Security – Kayvon Sadeghi
- Unpacking the U.S. Cybersecurity Executive Order – Kayvon Sadeghi
- Everything Old Is New Again: Remote Access Comes Full Circle – James Whewell
- How SonicWall ZTNA protects against Log4j (Log4Shell) – Rishabh Parmar
- 10 Tips for a Safe and Happy Holiday – Amber Wolff
- The Rise and Growth of Malware-as-a-Service – Ray Wyman
