Tag: colonial pipeline

  • Hackers and the holidays, US government warns ransomware doesn’t take days off

    Hackers and the holidays, US government warns ransomware doesn’t take days off

    As you prepare to take some time off to enjoy with your families (especially if a certain health crisis kept the festivities to a minimum in 2020) it’s important to take some steps to make sure your business is still protected in your absence.

    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an advisory yesterday to businesses and consumers alike, warning that hackers often take advantages of holidays and other times people may let their guard down to wreak more havoc.

    The advisory included a warning of a possible increase on the following cyber threat events:

    1. Phishing attacks: That email from your Aunt Beth seeing if you’re going to bring the green bean casserole with a “Google Form” to check it off may not be what it seems to be.
    2. Fraudulent site spoofing: Especially for sites that may be seeing increased traffic due to holiday shopping (Black Friday anyone?).
    3. Unencrypted financial transactions: An easy way to check, is to look for the S in HTTPS, don’t enter your financial data into unencrypted websites.

    Beyond attacks aimed at individuals, attacks aimed at businesses also tend to rise during the holidays and on weekends.

    Such was the case for the attack on Kaseya, which occurred over Fourth of July weekend in 2021, and the Colonial Pipeline hack happened during Mother’s Day weekend the same year. Hackers realize there is less coverage on the weekend and during Holidays and they have taken advantage of it to great success.

    It’s not just large businesses that are a target either, many wannabe hackers have day jobs too and more time on their hands during the holidays to target businesses that could be local to them. That includes yours.

    So, here’s a list of things to check off before you leave the office this week to enjoy some well deserved time off.

    Holiday Crisis Checklist
    Click to view the full size version.

    As you can see, our number one recommendation is knowing who is going to cover your business if a cyber event does happen while everyone is home for the holidays. If you try to think of who that person is and you either come up empty or maybe it’s you, that’s a problem.

    Another problem is if your normal IT coverage is on a one time or break fix solution basis. The service you normally use could either be too swamped themselves to help you during the holidays, or maybe they’re taking time off too and are simply unavailable to help you.

    This is where having a contract with a technology service provider could really save the day during a crisis. When you have a contract with a business to provide your technology services, they’re bound by the service level agreement (SLA) you sign at the start of service. They will be better equipped to help your business if there’s a crisis – even during the holidays.

    If you’re in the Fresno, Modesto, Sacramento or anywhere else in the Central Valley and aren’t really sure who you would turn to if a technology crisis occurred during the holidays, Valley Techlogic is here for you. Learn more today.

    Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.

    This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.

  • The Extreme Side of RAAS (Ransomware As A Service)

    The Extreme Side of RAAS (Ransomware As A Service)

    When many people think ransomware they usually think on the small scale, someone’s email or computer being held hostage until a small sum is paid or an IT professional can assist with the problem (for the lucky ones).

    Or perhaps you think of the major breaches where millions of accounts are leaked to the public, usually containing emails, phone numbers and other identifying information. As a whole the public has become desensitized to these sort of breaches (even though they’re still a serious problem).

    What we probably do not immediately jump to is a full-scale terrorist level attack that can cripple large swaths of the country – such is the case with the Colonial Pipeline Hack.

    Tech News #10

     

    While it’s still an ongoing situation, here are the details in summary.

    Systems were shut down Friday at the Colonial Pipeline, a pipeline which supplies 45% of the fuel used on the East Coast. FBI has confirmed the pipeline was shutdown voluntarily to prevent future damage and to assess the situation, however this has left much of the country in limbo as gas prices climb and many states have declared a state of emergency.

    It’s being urged that residents in those states do not stock pile gas as that will only prolong the problem of shortages once operations resume. As of Wednesday, operations are still down but they say they hope to resume operations by the end of the week.

    It’s also been confirmed by the FBI that the RAAS (Ransomware As A Service) group DarkSide is responsible for the attack. They create hacking tools that are then used in attacks on businesses, the group itself usually targets for profit businesses in English speaking countries.

    As a relatively new hacking group, they have since August 2020 conducted attacks on various businesses trying to extort money from them by threatening to release the data they obtain in their hacking efforts. They claim to donate all or part of their ill-gotten gains to charity organizations. Their ransomware demands range from $200,000 to $2 million.

    They claim to operate with a code of ethics and will not attack hospitals, schools etc. However, this pipeline attack will have a trickle-down effect to those services and the public at large.

    Ransomware in any form is disruptive and violating and it’s clear more needs to be done to stamp out these attacks.

    Raising public awareness about cyber security and the efforts required to be safe online will help. In addition to that, requiring businesses to have protective measures in place will cut off these groups before they’re able to acquire the funding they need to become large hacking organizations.

    We need to work together to making hacking less lucrative, because as it’s been shown our way of life and public safety may be at stake.

    If you run a business and need help with your cyber security services, we’re here for you. We have tailored cyber security plans for businesses of all sizes, and we would be happy to guide you through the process of protecting your business. Schedule a free consultation here today.

    Update: As of Thursday, the Colonial Pipeline has resumed operations. It’s unknown how long the gas shortages caused by the outage will last.

    Looking for more to read? We suggest these tech articles from the last week.

    This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.