When the Dark Side took down a pipeline with ransomware
Generally when you see “Darkside” trending on social media, it’s about something Star Wars related. Such was not the case recently, but rather a hacking group based in Russia that took down the Colonial Pipeline, one of the largest pipelines in the US, by compromising its management equipment. By now, the incident seems to have… Read More
Regulatory attention to data security
Effective regulatory attention to data security at the national level continues to elude us after all these years. For as long as a patchwork of state level and local standards has existed, industry experts have been calling for drastic improvement. According to Dark Reading, the aftermath of the SolarWinds hack may provide the best opportunity… Read More
Apple AirDrop security and best practices
A recent Apple event showcased the new AirDrop file sharing service, but a notable security flaw is drawing concern. With only a good Wi-Fi connection and two nearby Apple devices, AirDrop’s functionality can be exploited to allow access to the personal information of potentially 1.5 billion users. Email addresses and phone numbers at minimum are… Read More
Cybercrime does not discriminate across industries
No matter the industry, whether in finance, a ransomware breach of a Canadian construction company, or farming in Australia, the threats posed by compromised data is the same. The recommended preventative steps likewise cut across all sectors. Backing up data, implementing safeguards against phishing attacks and ransomware, and educating employees on best practices remain universally… Read More
Ransomware busts and the risks of password reuse
You can always depend on ransomware to make frequent data security headlines. Recent news from France details how members of the Egregor ransomware group, “suspected of initiating hundreds of ransomware attacks dating back to September 2020,” have been apprehended by a combined Franco-Ukrainian operation, specifically affiliates and others working for the group. Details of the… Read More
What data responsibilities do businesses have?
A recent lawsuit from Tesla shows the continued impact made by insider threats against a company’s cybersecurity structures. In this case, their target is a former employee accused of stealing proprietary codes and software files from the company’s systems. Apparently it only took days after starting his job for this employee to have sent thousands… Read More
SolarWinds breach saga continues in the new year
Beginning the cyber New Year in 2021 apparently involves learning that the SolarWinds data breach was more substantial in scope than previously thought. What it boils down to is the fact that approximately 250 government and private networks, rather than the dozens initially thought, were compromised by suspected Russian intelligence services seeking to exploit a… Read More
Approaching cybersecurity in 2021
As we move into the New Year, cybersecurity continues as ever to evolve in various ways. Of course, this would have been true even in less disruptive times. The challenges brought about by a global pandemic and mass shutdowns have necessitated creative, out of the box approaches to protecting data. Remote working provoked new strategies… Read More
US federal agencies announce data breach
We mentioned recently the acknowledged importance of cybersecurity in the realm of finance and national security. Now those attitudes will once more be put to the test. The breaking story this week, of course, is how hackers breached the US Treasury and Commerce departments through an IT security vendor called SolarWinds. The scope of SolarWinds’… Read More
Examining cybersecurity before holiday shopping
While October is Cyber Security Awareness month, it turns out November 30 was Computer Security Day. As the holiday season now coming upon a quarantined populace, it can be useful to examine how things stand in the field of cybersecurity, since few things have such an impact on consumer shopping online. According to a study… Read More