Atlanta Ransomware Attack: Lessons Learned

Every ransomware attack is devastating to the organizations affected. But they have the potential to teach valuable lessons to you and your organization about malware and endpoint security, and they can help you reflect on your current threat management strategies. Read on to learn about the recent Atlanta ransomware attack and how you can build on the knowledge gained to shore up your company's security.

The cyber kill chain concept is based on the military kill chain, which uses a three-stage process that covers target identification, defending against the attack and wiping out the target. Lockheed Martin started using the "kill chain" to refer to information security. It applies these same steps to cyber attackers who attempt to break into its computer network and corrupt or steal data. While the analogy may not always be a perfect one when you compare the cyber kill chain to the original military one, this concept gives you the opportunity to break a cyber attack into easily comprehensible stages.

Know How to Respond to a Cyber Security Incident

Organizations that fall under the purview of HIPAA have to respond quickly to a cyber attack. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a step-by-step guide to aid organizations. As a covered entity, your organization must have a contingency plan and incident procedures in the event of a security breach.

NetWorks Group is listed as a key innovator in the MarketsandMarkets’ Managed Detection and Response Market – Global Forecast to 2022 Report (Section 11.13.3 under Company Profiles (Page No. - 76)). This research report categorizes Managed Detection and Response Market by Security Type (Endpoint, Network, Application, Cloud), Deployment (On-Premises, Hosted), Organization Size (SMEs, and Large Enterprises), Industry Vertical, and Region. According to MarketsandMarkets, the Managed Detection and Response (MDR) market size is expected to grow from USD 335.5 Million in 2016 to USD 1,658.0 Million by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 31.6% during the forecast period. The base year considered for the study is 2016 and the forecast period is from 2017 to 2022.

Understanding OCR Guidance on Ransomware

With the prevalence of data breaches, ransomware has also come to the forefront of security threats. This malicious software is created by hackers who encrypt data and hold it hostage. Users are denied access to this data until they pay a ransom to the hacker.

Cybersecurity breaches reached unprecedented levels in 2017. Few were spared as businesses and government entities alike -- including Equifax, the British National Health Service and even the U.S. National Security Agency, as well as dozens of others -- were hit with data breaches. While frequent targets like the financial sector and retail industries experienced their fair share of attacks, the healthcare sector is now the primary target of hackers, accounting for 25 percent of all data breaches. Understanding why this is happening and the consequences of it will help you improve your company's cybersecurity defenses and mitigate future threats.

What Is a Phishing Attack?

Discussing Cybersecurity in the Boardroom

Cyber warfare is a very real and present danger, with more companies finding themselves on the losing end of the battle. Statistics from security monitoring services show that in a single hour alone, there are about 184,188 recorded cyber security breaches. This should be a wake-up call to key stakeholders, the majority of whom assume that cybersecurity is simply an IT problem and responsibility.

Are you in the market exploring options for security log monitoring and management? If so, I’m sure you are inundated with requests for a meeting from various SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) vendors.

A comprehensive cyber security framework consists of several components, and one of the most important among them is security log monitoring. Without an effective security log monitoring and management policy in place, a company runs the risk of non-compliance, and perhaps fines, if there is ever a data breach. In order to maintain compliance with guidelines laid out by laws like HIPAA, and frameworks such as PCI, companies need to have an effective security monitoring solution in place that can help them collect and analyze log information so they can detect and respond to cyber attacks.