Tag: moveit

  • The biggest cyber security breaches of 2023

    The biggest cyber security breaches of 2023

    Now that it’s 2024 we’re reflecting on the biggest events in tech that occurred in 2024, and in today’s article we want to talk about the biggest cyber security breaches that occurred in 2023.

    Before we get into it, let’s talk about the hard numbers.  Across the board, cyber threats are up year over year and 2023 was no exception. Here are 8 eye opening statistics on cyber threats as of writing:

    1. The global average cost of a data breach is $4.45 million and a ransomware attack $5.13 million as of 2023.
    2. The average lifecycle (discovery to remediation) of a data breach is 277 days.
    3. 74% of data breaches still involve a human element in 2023.
    4. 64% of Americans have not checked to see if there data has been lost in a data breach.
    5. Almost half (46%) of all cyberattacks were on US targets.
    6. More than 1 million identities were stolen in 2023.
    7. 30% of those people were a victim of a data breach in 2023.
    8. 54% of office works express feeling “cybersecurity fatigue” in regards to news of data breaches.

    Unfortunately, public apathy towards cybersecurity preventions from ongoing, sustained attacks and the lucrative nature of successful attacks performed on business entities makes for a potent recipe in these attacks only continuing to increase in 2024.

    We want to take a look back at the biggest breaches that occurred in 2023 and also present our solution for preventing an attack of this nature from occurring to your business.

    1. MGM – Occurring in September, the unusual way MGM was breached made headlines because it did not initially involve a computer. Instead, attackers posed as people of importance to the company via a phone call and gained access to their systems, causing a loss of reputation, $100 million in damages, and 5 class action lawsuits to be filed.
    2. ChatGPT – Not even AI is safe when it comes to targeted attacks from hackers, in March of 2023 a bug in their source code exposed the personal information of a 1.2% of their Plus Subscribers including home addresses, full names and email addresses.
    3. MOVEit File Transfer System – The fallout from this breach that occurred in June 2023 extended far beyond the file system management software company itself, including California’s biggest pension fund holders CalPERS and CalSTRS.
    4. RockStar – RockStar is another example like MGM that proved hackers don’t need expensive equipment to breach insecure systems, with this breach being conducted using a cellphone, a hotel room TV and an Amazon FireStick.
    5. The City of Oakland – An entire city was the target of a hack that occurred in February of 2023, the sustained attack which lasted more than a week prompted the city to even declare a state of emergency while systems remained offline. Class actions lawsuits were also filed in the aftermath of the attack in this case.

    These are just five attacks that made major news last year, but there were thousands more that did not make major news. When an attack occurs on a small business many times it leaves the owners with no choice but to close up shop (60% of small businesses that are the victim of a cyber attack close within 6 months).

    As IT providers it’s a frustrating topic for us as so much of this is preventable. If more preventions were put in place and it was more difficult for attackers to realize their goals than it would have a cumulative positive effect overall. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Let us help you meet your cybersecurity goals in 2024 by clicking on the image below.

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

    This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, an 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 US has declared a $10 million dollar bounty for more information on this ransomware

    The US has declared a $10 million dollar bounty for more information on this ransomware

    The US State Department’s “Rewards for Justice” program announced a 10 million dollar bounty for any information leading to clues on how the Clop ransomware attacks are linked to attacks on foreign governments.

    Announced via Twitter, the Rewards for Justice account tweeted “Do you have info linking CL0P Ransomware Gang or any other malicious cyber actors targeting U.S. critical infrastructure to a foreign government? Send us a tip. You could be eligible for a reward.” This program was initially launched to gather information on terrorist groups targeting US interests.

    The program has now grown to include attacks perpetrated by cyber criminals (even outside the US). It has collected information on the REvil ransomware, Russian Sandworm hackers, Evil Corp hacking group and more.

    This Isn’t the first time the US has announced a substantial bounty for information on cyber crime, in May of this year the Department of Justice also announced a $10 million dollar bounty for information leading to the arrest of the alleged Russian ransomware mastermind Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, also known online as “Wazawaka”.

    Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev or “Wazawaka” was accused of demanding $400 million from his victims (most of which purportedly paid). His exploits make him one of the most prolific single cyber criminals in history, but due to his illusive nature he still remains uncaught despite the substantial bounty on his head.

    Switching back to our story on the “Clop” ransomware, we covered one of the victims of this ransomware just last week in our article on the CalPers/CalSTRs data breach. Clop was used in the zero-day vulnerability found in the MOVEit file transfer software.

    Now, the group behind the Cl0p ransomware is extorting companies whose data was stolen during the attack and threatening to leak it online if the ransom is not paid.

    Victims of the Cl0p ransomware attack received this message June 17th, outlining the demands the group has for them and even offering an online chat to discuss the terms of payment. Victims are being given just 3 days to come to an agreement or an online page will be created by the group and their information will be leaked online.

    Outside of paying the ransom or dealing with the fallout of their data being leaked, there is little recourse for victims of this type of crime. The bounty is not due to the businesses and individuals whose data has been stolen in this attack, but the fear that the Cl0p ransomware group also received information on data sensitive to US security during their attack.

    The Cl0p ransomware group has said they will be deleting any data that pertains to the US or foreign governments, but of course there is no way to confirm this is true. All in all it will be interesting to see how the effects of offering a bounty for information leading to the arrest of individuals involved in these attacks acts as a deterrent for future attacks.

    If your data was leaked in this recent breach or you’re worried about identity theft, we do have some tips on what to do if your information has been leaked online or or to lower your risk factors below:

    Of course, the best method of keeping your data safe is to prevent it from being leaked in the first place, and Valley Techlogic can help. Cyber security is our main focus, and we know the cost of prevention can often dwarf the cost of remediation when it comes to cybercrime many times over. Learn more about how we can improve the security in your business today.

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

    This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, an 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.