Dear Reader,
Now April 2021 has drawn to an end, we take a closer look at one of the most prevalent cyber security threats that has seen a massive surge over the past year: Ransomware. While the issue itself is not new, the frequency of high-profile attacks and the money paid by those affected in an attempt to recover the data has skyrocketed. In this month's selected news stories, you will find information on who is benefitting from ransomware, how one ransomware ended up destroying itself, and most importantly, effective ways to prepare for these attacks.
At long last, Emotet, one of the most notorious malware strains in recent years has been wiped out for good. More than 700 command-and-control servers associated to Emotet had been seized earlier this year following a multinational police investigation. Now, this extensive infrastructure has been utilized to distribute code to all infected machines that would automatically uninstall any remains of the malware on April 25.
https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/26/emotet_sunday_25_april_killswitch_date/
One particular industry that still has a lot of catching-up to do, is shipping. As ZDNet reports, in times where the world relies on reliable global logistics more than ever, the sector has become an ideal target for ransomware gangs. Add to that a comparatively subpar security posture and you can understand why by September of last year, every major shipping company had fallen victim to significant security attacks in the past few years.
Highlighting how organizations can improve their resilience against ransomware and other malware infections, Steve Blow shared with Cybersecurity Magazine some insights into Continuous Data Protection (CDP) earlier this month. This approach goes beyond your daily or weekly backup solution by enforcing strict version control and automatically saving any modifications users perform on the file. As a result, it can help to greatly minimize data loss and recovery times.
Besides pure technology solutions, the Institute for Security and Technology's Ransomware Task Force which published its key recommendations last week is calling for a multi-pronged approach to combatting ransomware. The report, co-authored among others by FBI, CISA, and major US tech companies, outlines a comprehensive framework to address this global problem more effectively, including a closer collaboration between the public and private sector.
https://www.wired.com/story/ransomware-task-force-proposal/
Lastly, the New Yorker featured an interesting article this month highlighting some of the beneficiaries of ransomware campaigns. For North Korea, malware, hacking, and cryptocurrency theft are proven methods bringing money into the country. The article goes on to describe where the regime has been successful in the past and how it is training recruits for its state-sponsored hacking operations.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/26/the-incredible-rise-of-north-koreas-hacking-army
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