Atlanta city employees coming to work this morning were handed an unusual notice: don’t turn on your computers. The municipal systems had been hit with a ransomware attack on Thursday, and employees were not to use their computer until they were cleared by the municipal IT group.
As ransomware continues to gain notoriety, cybercriminals are looking for more ways to get the most out of the malware that they develop. Similarly, other bad actors who may lack the necessary skills to develop malware themselves are looking for a way to get in on the action. This has led to an increase in ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), a practice in which cybercriminals put their ransomware up for sale, where it is purchased and leveraged by other criminals who are technically unable to develop their own variants.
How can security operations professionals within healthcare organizations balance the need to meet regulatory mandates while securing critical network infrastructure and patient data?
How are you reducing your IT security risks? Did you know that the global spending on security technology is forecast to reach $81.7 Billion in 2017, according to IDC?
If an organization knows software patches have not been applied and takes no action to remedy the situation, they could be considered negligent and held liable, and suffer significant financial and public relations consequences.
Security researchers have recorded more than 45,000 cases of ransomware in the past 10 hours alone, most of which are taking advantage of a Microsoft vulnerability.
