Data Net Blog

Cyberattacks are spending less time on their victims’ networks before they are discovered, which sounds like good news, but the reality isn’t so straightforward. Let’s take a few moments and dig into the situation at hand, and what it means for your cybersecurity.

During this time of year, many people like to sit back and reminisce upon favorite stories from the past. We figured we’d join in the fun by reimagining what many argue to be a holiday classic: Die Hard.

Let’s take a few moments to consider how the story might play out if the action were to take place today…

We haven’t exactly been shy about sharing our recommendation that a ransomware demand should never be met with payment, but there is now an even more impactful reason not to. This deterrent comes courtesy of the United States Treasury Department, which has released a statement informing businesses of potential fines as retribution for doing so.

Chances are, you’ve heard the term “ransomware” before. If you’re familiar with this particularly nasty bit of malware, the rest of this blog will be a familiar review. If you’re new to the term, let’s introduce you to the mean-spirited cyberattack known as ransomware.

Ransomware has become infamous in the past few years, largely due to its involvement in a growing number of cyberattacks during this time. Of course, not all ransomware works in the same way, and recognizing the difference could prove to be useful. Therefore, we’ve taken a few moments and assembled a brief description of the four most common ransomware varieties.

Florida’s Atlantic coast is a destination for millions of visitors each year. One visitor is costing a coastal city a pretty penny. Riviera Beach, a small city just north of West Palm Beach, has been hit with a major ransomware attack. Today, we’ll tell you how it came to be that the small beach city would make dubious history by paying what is the largest ransomware payout in the short history of these attacks.

Ransomware is a contender for the favorite method of attack for hackers. If you think about it, ransomware presents a no-loss situation. Either the victim pays the ransom and the hackers laugh all the way to the bank, or they move on to the next target and give them the same ultimatum.

Ransomware is still going strong, and now more than ever it’s important to emphasize the danger that it poses for your organization. Even municipalities and other high-profile targets are at risk of being taken down by ransomware. Since 2013, over 170 government systems at the county, city, or state levels have been attacked.

I think by now most people understand just how dangerous ransomware is. Even with some of the ridiculous names they have like Gandcrab, Jigsaw, and WannaCry. Hell, two strains even have names from the James Bond canon: LeChiffre and GoldenEye. But one funny-named strain of ransomware, SamSam, has been devastating information systems for sometime, and has caught the eye of several U.S. law enforcement agencies.

According to the homeland security adviser to the White House, Tom Bossert, international blame for the global WannaCry attack is being directed toward North Korea. Responsibility for the attack that spanned from May 12th to the 15th of 2017 has been firmly placed on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which Bossert says is in agreement with the conclusions of Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.

In recent years, how-to guides and YouTube videos have brought renewed enthusiasm for the phrase ‘Do It Yourself’. From services that will ship all the ingredients needed for a home-cooked meal right to your front door to a kit that contains all of the building materials one needs to make a fully functioning ‘tiny house’, DIY kits have made it easier for someone who is less than an expert to successfully complete a project or learn a skill. The Dark Web has taken this infatuation with ‘DIY’ to a whole new level with a rising increase in the sale of Ransomware kits.

Ransomware can target all kinds of entities, but one of the most devastating attacks in recent memory was launched against Atlanta, Georgia earlier this year. Atlanta suffered from an incredibly sustained and powerful ransomware attack that disabled much of the municipal government.

Ransomware exploded in 2017, and after a year with as much success as these attacks saw, it is no wonder that 2018 is expected to see more. However, in order to remain successful, ransomware will have to change and improve. In today’s blog, we explore a few predictions as to how this threat will do so.