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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 01 April 2021

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 01 April 2021: Boards Still Aren't Taking Cyber Security Seriously, That Means Everyone Is At Risk; Nearly 40% Of New Ransomware Families Use Both Data Encryption And Data Theft In Attacks; Ransomware - Why We Are Now Facing A Perfect Storm; Nearly A Fifth Of Ransomware Victims Who Pay Off Extortionists Fail To Get Their Data Back; Shadow IT Is Your Organisation's Next Remote-Working Nightmare

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

Image by Jo_Johnston from Pixabay

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Boards Still Aren't Taking Cyber Security Seriously, That Means Everyone Is At Risk

Cyber security still is not taken as seriously as it should be by boardroom executives – and that's leaving organisations open to cyber attacks, data breaches and ransomware, the new boss of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned. In her first speech since taking the helm of the UK cyber security agency, CEO Lindy Cameron said cyber security should be viewed with the same importance to CEOs as finance, legal or any other vital day-to-day part of the enterprise.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/boardrooms-still-arent-taking-cybersecurity-seriously-and-thats-putting-everyone-at-risk-from-attacks-warns-new-ncsc-boss/

Nearly 40% Of New Ransomware Families Use Both Data Encryption And Data Theft In Attacks

2020 saw an explosion of ransomware that also steals data, giving the attackers more leverage over their victims. If organisations first refuse to pay a ransom to decrypt their data, attackers threaten to leak the stolen information, increasing pressure on victims to pay. This evolution, referred to as Ransomware 2.0 in the report, was a significant development in 2020. Only one ransomware group was observed using this type of extortion in 2019. By the end of 2020, 15 different ransomware families had adopted this approach. Furthermore, nearly 40% of ransomware families discovered in 2020, as well as several older families, were known to also steal data from victims by the end of last year.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/03/31/ransomware-families-data-encryption/

Ransomware: Why We Are Now Facing A Perfect Storm

Ransomware is becoming more successful than ever before because of a combination of factors that allow cyber criminals to easily gain access to corporate networks – and they are finding success because a significant number of organisations that fall victim to attacks are willing to pay the ransom. A report warns that the 'perfect storm' of conditions have come together and allowed ransomware attacks to run rampant against organisations around the world.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-why-were-now-facing-a-perfect-storm/

Ransomware: Nearly A Fifth Of Victims Who Pay Off Extortionists Fail To Get Their Data Back

The poll found that close to half (46%) of UK ransomware victims paid the ransom to restore access to their data last year, yet an unfortunate 11% of victims who shelled out did not have their stolen data returned. Whether they paid or not, only 18% of 1,006 UK victims surveyed were able to restore all their encrypted or blocked files following an attack. Internationally the picture is still worse with more than half (56%) paying off extortionists and nearly one in five of whom (17%) failing to get their data back even after paying out.

https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/ransomware-nearly-a-fifth-of-victims-who-pay-off-extortionists-fail-to-get-their-data-back

Billions Of Records Have Been Hacked Already. Make Cyber Security A Priority Or Risk Disaster

More data records have been compromised in 2020 alone than in the past 15 years combined, in what is described as a mounting "data breach crisis" in the latest study from analysis. Over the past 12 months, 31 billion data records have been compromised. This is up 171% from the previous year and constitutes well over half of the 55 billion data records that have been compromised in total since 2005.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/billions-of-records-have-been-hacked-already-make-cybersecurity-a-priority-of-risk-disaster-warns-analyst/

Ransomware Gang Urges Victims’ Customers To Demand A Ransom Payment

A ransomware operation known as 'Clop' is applying maximum pressure on victims by emailing their customers and asking them to demand a ransom payment to protect their privacy. A common tactic used by ransomware operations is to steal unencrypted data before encrypting a victim's network. This data is then used in a double-extortion tactic where they threaten to release the data if a ransom is not paid.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransomware-gang-urges-victims-customers-to-demand-a-ransom-payment/

Employee Lockdown Stress May Spark Cyber Security Risk

Stressed-out employees in a remote-working world could be a major contributor to poor cybersecurity postures for companies, according to a survey. Among other findings, the survey found that younger employees as well as people caring for children or other family members reported more stress in their lives, as well riskier IT behaviours when compared to other demographics. For instance, 67 percent of employees under 30 said they use shadow IT (unsanctioned apps, services, and equipment) to help them to perform certain tasks more easily, compared to 27 percent of older workers.

https://threatpost.com/employee-lockdown-stress-cybersecurity-risk/165050/

Shadow IT Is Your Organisation's Next Remote-Working Nightmare

Shadow IT refers to the use of devices, systems and software outside of those permitted by an organisational IT department. According to new research by software company Forcepoint, more than a third (37%) of UK employees are now relying on shadow IT at home, increasing companies' exposure to cyber security risks.

The use of personal devices appears to be one of the biggest culprits: 48% of respondents admitted to using their own devices to access work documents and corporate networks while working from home. Meanwhile, 34% of employees reported using private email or file-sharing cloud services for work purposes – again against the advice of employers.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/shadow-it-is-your-organizations-next-remote-working-nightmare/

As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.

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