Cybersecurity News & Trends – 03-03-2023
Curated cybersecurity news and trends from the industry’s leading bloggers and news outlets, for you from SonicWall.
It’s the first week of March, and the 2023 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report was released this week! SonicWall has been dominating the news cycle following its release. MSN quoted our CEO, Bob VanKirk, about the great need for cybersecurity among all businesses. ITPro cited data from the 2023 Threat Report. CRN quoted Bob VanKirk as well about 2022 ransomware numbers. Evening Standard cited the 2023 Threat Report’s cryptojacking data. The 2023 Cyber Threat Report has made a huge splash in the media and will continue to do so all year.
In industry news, TechCrunch had the lowdown on the major ransomware attack at Dish Network. Dark Reading shared details of the follow-up attack at LastPass. Hacker News had the scoop on the first UEFI bootkit to bypass Windows 11 Secure Boot, and Bleeping Computer reported on the Russian government banning use of certain foreign communication apps.
Remember to keep your passwords close and your eyes peeled — cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility.
SonicWall News
Covert Cyberattacks on The Rise as Attackers Shift Tactics for Maximum Impact
HelpNetSecurity, SonicWall News: 2022 was the second-highest year on record for global ransomware attempts, as well as an 87% increase in IoT malware and a record number of cryptojacking attacks (139.3 million), according to SonicWall.
2023 Could Be the Biggest Ever Year for Cybercrime
TechRadarPro, SonicWall News: 2023 could very well be the biggest year ever for cybercriminals, new figures have claimed. According to SonicWall’s latest figures, cybercrime is on the rise across the board, but trends are slowly shifting which is something IT security teams should keep in mind. More precisely, hackers are opting for a “slow and low” approach, keeping stealthy while trying to achieve financially-motivated goals.
Spikes In IoT Malware, Cryptojacking Offset Decline in Ransomware In 2022
MSSP Alert, SonicWall News: SonicWall researchers recorded the second-highest year on record for global ransomware attempts but it was an 87% increase in Internet of Things (IoT) malware and a record number of cryptojacking attacks (139.3 million) that signaled a shift in the overall threat landscape in 2022, the company said in a new report.
Cybercrime Spiked In 2022 — And This Year Could Be Worse
Digital Trends, SonicWall News: Last year saw a massive spike in cybercrime, with some types of malicious digital activity rising by as much as 87%. It doesn’t bode well — but there were a couple of relative bright spots. That information comes from a new report published by cybersecurity firm SonicWall. It makes for interesting reading, especially since one of the biggest rises came from an unusual source — and one of the most feared types of malware saw a hefty drop.
Ransomware Attacks Plunged 48 Percent in US Last Year: SonicWall
CRN, SonicWall News: In a major reversal from prior years, the volume of ransomware attacks globally dropped by 21 percent in 2022, year-over-year, with a 48-percent decline in the U.S., SonicWall said in a new report Tuesday. It’s encouraging that we’re seeing a decrease” in ransomware attacks, SonicWall CEO Bob VanKirk said in an interview with CRN. At the same time, “the number of attacks still is staggering,” VanKirk said.
Ransomware Threat Surges as Brits Suffer Millions of Attacks In 2022
Evening Standard, SonicWall News: The scale of the threat posed to companies and consumers by cyberattacks was laid bare today in a new report which reveals global ransomware attempts hit their second highest year on record in 2022.
Cyber intrusion attempts and malware attacks climbed 19% and 2% respectively, according to the Global Cyberattack Trends report by SonicWall, while crypto-theft attacks jumped 43% to reach a record high. The volume of ransomware attacks was especially severe in the UK, climbing a staggering 112% in 2022, the report found, despite a 21% decrease in attacks worldwide.
Experts Spot Half a Million Novel Malware Variants in 2022
InfoSecurity, SonicWall News: Global malware detections increased 2% year-on-year (YoY) in 2022 to hit 5.5 billion, with never-before-seen variants surging 5%, according to SonicWall. The security vendor captured threat intelligence from its global SonicWall Capture Threat network, including one million security sensors, in order to compile its 2023 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report.
Ransomware Threat Surges as Brits Suffer Millions of Attacks In 2022
MSN, SonicWall News: Bob Vankirk, CEO of SonicWall, said: “The past year reinforced the need for cybersecurity in every industry and every facet of business, as threat actors targeted anything and everything, from education to retail to finance. While organizations face an increasing number of real-world obstacles with macroeconomic pressures and continued geopolitical strife, threat actors are shifting attack strategies at an alarming rate.”
State-Sponsored Hackers Are Diversifying Tactics, Targeting Small Businesses
IT Pro, SonicWall News: State-sponsored threat actors are increasingly shifting their focus towards SMBs and smaller enterprises, according to new research. While large enterprises, public services, and critical national infrastructure have traditionally been key targets for state-sponsored threat actors, SonicWall’s 2023 Cyber Threat Report predicted that groups will ‘diversify’ their tactics in 2023 to target SMBs and a “broader set of victims.”
Cybersecurity Predictions for 2023 – Things You Should Know
Utah Pulse, SonicWall News: SonicWall reports a 328% YoY increase in healthcare ransomware attacks in 2022, and healthcare and education are expected to be among the most targeted sectors in 2023. The expanding IoT footprint in these sectors is predicted to make them more vulnerable to digital attacks, increasing the risk to critical infrastructure.
The 20 Coolest Network Security Companies Of 2023: The Security 100
CRN, SonicWall News: Key offerings from SonicWall in the realm of next-generation firewalls include the SonicWall NSa 5700, which utilizes a scalable hardware architecture designed to fit in a single rack-mountable unit. The high port density of the NSa 5700 includes multiple 10-Gigabit Ethernet and 1-Gigabit Ethernet fiber and copper interfaces.
CEO Outlook 2023
CRN, SonicWall News: One of the biggest opportunities we will be tackling with our partners is providing a broader set of unified and cost-effective solutions that fully secure the evolving network perimeter. For many of our partners and customers, 2023 will represent a period of cautious and informed investment in IT and security – customers will demand more bang for their security buck.
Industry News
Personal Data Stolen in Dish Network Ransomware Attack
Dish Network is experiencing a prolonged outage on its website, apps and customer support services following a ransomware attack last week. In a public filing, Dish said that the threat actors had successfully exfiltrated data from their servers that may contain personal information. TechCrunch spoke with several Dish Network customers who said they have not had TV service since last Thursday. No attackers have yet taken credit for the breach, but it’s suspected that the Black Basta ransomware gang is responsible.
LastPass Vault Data Lost in Follow-up Attack
LastPass has experienced another breach from the same threat actors that infiltrated their development environment in August 2022. According to Dark Reading, LastPass lost the decryption keys for a large amount of customer and encrypted vault data. The threat actors accessed the data by infiltrating the home computer of a LastPass DevOps engineer who had the data. The attack utilized a vulnerable media player on the engineer’s home computer. LastPass did make a statement reminding end users that their master passwords are not known or stored by LastPass, so they were not stolen in the breach.
BlackLotus UEFI Bootkit Malware Bypasses Windows 11 Secure Boot
In a first for Windows 11, a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) bootkit has bypassed Secure Boot. The UEFI bootkit is called BlackLotus, and is the first UEFI bootkit to pull off such a feat which makes it a danger to any system running Windows 11. BlackLotus was first sold in October 2022 and the seller did claim it was capable of bypassing Secure Boot. The seller also claimed it could disable security software. At a price of only $5,000, it’s a much more accessible tool for a broader range of cyber criminals. According to Hacker News, exploiting the Secure Boot vulnerability allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code during early boot phases which allows the attacker to wreak havoc on a user’s system. It’s not yet known exactly how the bootkit is deployed, but Microsoft will surely want to patch this vulnerability quickly and thoroughly.
Foreign Communication Apps Banned in Russian Government Organizations
Laws banning foreign messaging applications in the Russian government have started being enforced this week. Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet control agency, announced the new restrictions this week. The services banned by the Russian government include Discord, Microsoft Teams, Skype for business, Snapchat, Telegram, Threema, Viber, WhatsApp and WeChat. As of now, the ban only applies to Russian government and state agencies. Russian citizens can still use the communication apps. According to Bleeping Computer, Roskomnadzor did not ban Zoom or the encrypted messaging app Signal.
SonicWall Blog
Latest Threat Intelligence Tracks Shifting Cyber Frontlines in 2022 – Amber Wolff
New SMA Release Updates OpenSSL Library, Includes Key Security Features – Jai Balasubramaniyan
SonicWall Recognizes Bill Conner for Transition of Business, Impact on Cybersecurity Industry – Bret Fitzgerald
SonicWall’s Jason Carter and Matt Brennan Earn 2023 CRN Channel Chief Recognition – Bret Fitzgerald
Can You Catch All the Phish? Take Our New Phishing IQ Quiz and Find Out! – Ken Dang
Celebrating 2023 With Expanded “3 & Free” – Matt Brennan
The Art of Cyber War: Sun Tzu and Cybersecurity – Ray Wyman
Talking Boundless Cybersecurity at the Schoolscape IT 2022 Conference – Mohamed Abdallah
SonicWall Included on the Acclaimed CRN Edge Computing 100 List for 2022 – Bret Fitzgerald
A New Era of Partnering to Win – Robert (Bob) VanKirk
Multiply Your Security with Multifactor Authentication – Amber Wolff
