By James Lint
Senior Editor for In Cyber Defense
Ransomware – Take It Seriously
Last year, the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) observed increased stealth and success in the use of ransomware. The FBI also predicted that ransomware would be a billion-dollar industry in the same year.
Darkreading had an interesting article, written by commentator Dan Larson, on 4 Reasons Why You Should Take Ransomware Seriously. His four reasons were well thought out and useful.
- Ransomware continues to evolve. The hostile actors want to win and they keep finding vulnerabilities allowing their entrance into computer systems. Old software hacks and ransomware must be updated, just as your system software is updated. With the evolution of ransomware, the exploit kits will continue.
- Standard security solutions may not protect you. With the evolution of tools and ransomware, your old security solutions will become outdated. In the future, we will have to defend systems differently. In the past, protections from malware was to prevent your data from leaking out. There were checks to watch for data leakage. Now the game is different; attack prevention is critical. With ransomware, entrance vulnerabilities will give hackers the opportunity to quickly encrypt and block your access to your computer systems. As security threats change, the security solutions must also change.
- Compliance may be at stake. Both the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have rules for data protection. FTC has enforcement actions to be taken when companies have unpatched vulnerabilities that leave customer data vulnerable. Companies may receive lawsuits for not fully protecting the data of their customers. This could raise the cost of business.
- Data recovery can be complex and costly. The decision to pay has been tough for some companies. The lack of trust in backups not infected often lead to the payment decision. The hostile actors using ransomware often know to keep the data recovery costs low enough, so that the decision in a cost/benefit analysis will come out that it is cheaper to pay. The future is that new ransomware could delete your backup files, making recovery not an option, and again, payment is the only option.
Dan Larson’s reasons for taking ransomware seriously need further exploration and enhancement. None of us will ever have all the cybersecurity answers, but Dan Larson did provide a start to thinking about and analyzing the ransomware problem.
The future answer for ransomware may be in artificial intelligence in both prevention and detection tools. The changes and evolving nature of both ransomware and cyber defenders will keep both employed as the battle continues.
Notice: A Defense Intelligence Agency Hiring Fair will be in Omaha, Nebraska. Looking for Intelligence Analysts, Counterintelligence, HUMINT specialist.
There is a good possibility that DIA HR is building up a pool of eligible applicants. The impact of the federal hiring freeze on intelligence is not known, but SECDEF has the authority to waiver and hire critical need positions.
DIA MIDWEST HIRING EVENT – ANALYSIS CAREER FIELD
Department: Department of Defense
Agency: Defense Intelligence Agency
Number of Job Opportunities & Location(s): 1 vacancy – Washington DC, District of Columbia
Salary: $40,684.00 to $78,703.00 / Per Year
Series and Grade: GG-0132-07/10
Open Period: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 to Friday, February 3, 2017
Position Information: Permanent – Full Time
Who May Apply: Open All Sources
DIA MIDWEST HIRING EVENT – COUNTERINTELLIGENCE CAREER FIELD
Department: Department of Defense
Agency: Defense Intelligence Agency
Number of Job Opportunities & Location(s): 1 vacancy – Washington DC, District of Columbia
Salary: $40,684.00 to $78,703.00/Per Year
Series and Grade: GG-0132-07/10
Open Period: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 to Friday, February 3, 2017
Position Information: Permanent – Full Time
Who May Apply: Open All Sources
DIA MIDWEST HIRING EVENT – HUMAN INTELLIGENCE CAREER FIELD
Department: Department of Defense
Agency: Defense Intelligence Agency
Number of Job Opportunities & Location(s): 1 vacancy – Washington DC, District of Columbia
Salary: $40,684.00 to $78,703.00/Per Year
Series and Grade: GG-0132-07/10
Open Period: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 to Friday, February 3, 2017
Position Information: Permanent – Full Time
Who May Apply: Open All Sources
To view the complete list of results on the USAJOBS web site, please click View All Opportunities.
Stay secure!
This article highlights cyber news that influences cyber defenders. Information is retrieved from aggregators and credit given to them.
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