Articles of interest from the week of October 26, 2020

FBI, DHS, HHS Warn of Imminent, Credible Ransomware Threat Against U.S. Hospitals

On Monday, Oct. 26, KrebsOnSecurity began following up on a tip from a reliable source that an aggressive Russian cybercriminal gang known for deploying ransomware was preparing to disrupt information technology systems at hundreds of hospitals, clinics and medical care facilities across the United States. Yesterday, officials from the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security hastily assembled a conference call with healthcare industry executives warning about an “imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.” (By Krebs on Security) Ingalls: One of the most telling statistics from this year’s Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) is that Ransomware remains a serious threat to all industries and accounts for nearly a quarter of all malware based attacks.  Ransomware has become so widespread and commonplace that a normal attack garners neither the shock of security professionals nor the attention of the media. Are You Prepared To Defend Against Ransomware?

78% of Microsoft 365 Admins Don’t Activate MFA

The survey research shows that approximately 78% of Microsoft 365 administrators do not have multi-factor authentication (MFA) activated. According to SANS, 99% of data breaches can be prevented using MFA. This is a huge security risk, particularly during a time when so many employees are working remotely. (By Help Net Security) Ingalls: The most effective way to avoid having your account information can be stolen, which can lead to a breach, is by enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (or MFA). Here's some more information on why you need to deploy advanced user account protections like MFA.

Emotet Malware Now Wants You to Upgrade Microsoft Word

Emotet switched to a new template this week that pretends to be a Microsoft Office message stating that Microsoft Word needs to be updated to add a new feature. (By Lawrence Abrams, BleepingComputer). Ingalls: At a time when cybersecurity is more strategic to businesses than ever before, determining one’s cybersecurity risk management strategy is crucial. Our Master Risk Control: Pick A Cybersecurity Risk Management Strategy blog post provides some valuable insight on the different options.

The 5 Biggest Cybersecurity Threats for the Healthcare Industry

Malicious network traffic is the highest cybersecurity risk for hospitals and other healthcare providers and affects 72% of all organizations. This security threat establishes network access from an app to a web service that is known to demonstrate malicious behavior, such as downloading unauthorized software and gathering sensitive data. (By Veronica Combs, TechRepublic). Ingalls: Protecting protecting your organization from being hacked used to involve a fairly straightforward set of technical controls that kept customer computer networks secure and data backed up in the event of a system failure. To do this 10 years ago, an organization needed to setup firewalls, antivirus, patch management, and data backup. Today, organizations of all sizes need Managed Detection and Response (MDR) to defend against malicious network traffic. Our MDR service delivers threat monitoring, detection and response leveraging a combination of technologies, advanced analytics, threat intelligence, and human expertise in incident investigation and response. How does MDR work?

Average Cost of a Data Breach in 2020: $3.86M

A recent survey of 3,200 people in 524 organizations that suffered data breaches is a bit of a mixed bag. Ponemon's "Cost of a Data Breach Report 2020" (commissioned by IBM) reveals that despite an apparent decline in the average cost of a data breach — from $3.92 million in 2019 to $3.86 million this year — the price tag was much less for mature companies and industries and far higher for firms that had lackluster security automation and incident response processes. In the same vein, Ponemon's examination of the average cost per record varied widely according to the kind of data that was exposed or stolen. (By Marc Wilczek, Dark Reading) Ingalls: Avoid being the next statistic by using our Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service. Our MDR service is designed for advanced detection, threat hunting, anomaly detection and response guidance utilizing a defense-in-depth approach. We do this by utilizing the very latest in cloud, big data analytics technology, and machine learning along with the cybersecurity industry’s leading incident response team, to identify threats to your environment.