\u201cIt is foreseeable that these attacks will continue throughout 2021, with national infrastructure being a primary target for cybercriminal groups. Therefore, the overall key message here is that no individual, industry, or company is exempt from the ransomware threat and it requires constant focus, assessment and review to ensure you and your critical information assets remain safeguarded and protected against it.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin Jartelius, CSO at Outpost24 suggests, \u201cThis is the evolution we see with ransomware. Earlier <\/em>it was the loss of access to your information that was the primary driver but readiness and protection in some organisations mean this is sometimes an insufficient motivation to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leveraging trade-secrets for extortion is sometimes used, or in cases like this, a push for releasing private information leaning on GDPR and public pressure is also used as an incentive. All those are ways to attempt to monetise from a breach without having to find a willing buyer of the information but rather \u2018sell it back\u2019 to its original owner.

\u201cIn this case, paying is actually hard to grasp as it will depend entirely on the ethics of the attacker that they don\u2019t take the money and then simply keep asking for more, i.e. you do not recover or achieve anything by a financial transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corporate courage <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nikos Mantas, Incident Response Expert at Obrela Security Industries says the primary reason ransomware is such a prolific attack method is because of its profitability. He says: \u201cThis is because a cyclical economy is formed by ransomware attacks as a majority of the victims choose to pay to get their data back, which only fuels the industry and goes on to create more attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCompanies should instead focus on prevention and transition to a 'security in-depth' model combining not only traditional security mechanisms but also controls for access and identity management. To do this employees awareness of ransomware is vital, as are continuous backups and up to date software and security solutions on all devices accessing the IT network.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should hope that Merseyrail is prepared to respond ransomware, including the potential operational disruptions that come with that response,\u201d adds Paul Norris, Senior Systems Engineer at Tripwire. \u201cBut while we tend to focus on the response to ransomware, prevention is still the best way to deal with the threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ransomware doesn\u2019t magically appear on systems, and the methods by which it\u2019s introduced into an environment are generally well understood phishing, vulnerability exploits, and misconfigurations, which is why hardening systems helps to safeguard the integrity of your digital assets and protect against vulnerabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Higgins concludes: \u201cIt would appear that, in this particular instance, Merseyrail are holding their nerve and following industry standard protocols. It takes corporate courage to back up your data, inform the relevant authorities and keep hold of your cash. I hope Merseyrail come out of this successfully and provide a case-study of good practice for future cyber-crime victims.\u201d<\/p>\n","post_title":"Ransomware roundtable | Staying on track","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"ransomware-roundtable-staying-on-track","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-04-30 17:02:57","post_modified_gmt":"2021-04-30 16:02:57","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/securityonscre.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=5910","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":5827,"post_author":"48","post_date":"2021-04-26 13:38:25","post_date_gmt":"2021-04-26 12:38:25","post_content":"\n

Last week, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reached an agreement with the National Customs Directorate of Paraguay to secure borders. This will be done through the implementation of the Automated Targeting System-Global traveler screening system, or 'ATS-G.' <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ATS-G software is said to improve how travellers flying in and out of a country are screened, helping identify high-risk travellers. The Bureau of Counterterrorism of the US Department of State and the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program of the US Department of Justice will provide essential computer hardware and software to Paraguay\u2019s National Customs Directorate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe United States and Paraguay enjoy a close partnership in security cooperation,\u201d said Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires of the US Embassy Joseph Salazar.\u00a0 \u201cThe ATS-G platform will enable the United States and Paraguay to continue safely building the economic, security, and cultural ties at the heart of our longstanding friendship.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government of Paraguay and US Customs and Border Protection signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in April 2018 that was the first step in bringing ATS-G to Paraguay.\u00a0 The agreement reached last week establishes individual and organisational data security responsibilities that enable ATS-G to be fully implemented.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith a broad mission that includes border security, as well as facilitating lawful trade and travel, CBP is acutely aware of the importance of engaging our international partners and stakeholders,\u201d stated William A. Ferrara, Executive Assistant Commissioner of the CBP Office of Field Operations.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n