Atlanta skyline at night. (Photo: Maciek Lulko, via Flickr/CC)

Atlanta's Ransomware Cleanup Costs Hit $2.6 Million

Mathew J. Schwartz • April 24, 2018

The city of Atlanta's ransomware outbreak cleanup and response tab has hit $2.6 million after a March attack froze corporate servers, employees' PCs and resident-facing portals. Some security experts say the breach response funds would have been put to better use preventing the outbreak in the first place.

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Events

US, UK: Russian Hackers Deeply Embedded in Routers, Switches

Latest

Data Breach

Symantec: 'Orangeworm' Group Hits Healthcare Organizations

Jeremy Kirk • April 24, 2018

Large healthcare companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia are getting hit with a backdoor that comes from a long-observed group, which Symantec calls Orangeworm. The backdoor has been found on X-ray machines and MRIs.

Fraud

Machine Learning, AI Mitigating Insider Threats

Nick Holland • April 24, 2018

Insider threats aren't going away, but the introduction of machine learning and AI are proving to be powerful tools in the fight, says Randy Trzeciak of Carnegie Mellon University's CERT.

Risk Management

Preparing for the Operational Technology Challenge

Tom Field • April 24, 2018

Plenty has been said about threats to internet of things devices - and rightfully so. But what about operational technology that often has been neglected by security controls? Mark Nunnikhoven of Trend Micro weighs in on OT risks.

Awareness & Training

Workforce Development: Reducing Barriers to Entry

Mathew J. Schwartz • April 24, 2018

What can be done to address the shortage of personnel to fill the ever-expanding roster of cybersecurity jobs - from entry-level positions through the CISO role? (ISC)2's John McCumber describes organizational and governmental efforts to lower barriers to entry and build tomorrow's workforce.

Fraud Management, Cybercrime

How Account Takeovers Subvert Victims' Social Networks

Mathew J. Schwartz • April 24, 2018

Attackers rarely bother with technical sophistication when easy social engineering schemes, such as "hacking" a victim's social network and using it against them, can give them what they want, says Markus Jakobsson, chief scientist at the cybersecurity firm Agari.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

How to Battle Credential Stuffing Attacks

Mathew J. Schwartz • April 24, 2018

To combat credential stuffing and other types of rising attacks, organizations need data - and lots of it - to feed machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to better detect these types of high volume attacks, says Shape Security's Dan Woods.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

The Role of AI and ML in Minimizing Alert Fatigue

Nicholas Holland • April 24, 2018

Alert fatigue is a serious problem in terms of risk management and security analyst turnover. Ted Julian of IBM Resilient discusses how artificial intelligence and machine learning can assist with orchestration and automation.

Cloud Computing

Bringing Visibility to the Midmarket

Tom Field • April 24, 2018

Increasingly, SonicWall is focused on the midmarket, and CEO Bill Conner wants to help ensure that smaller and midsized enterprises have appropriate visibility into the threat landscape - the threat actors, as well as whom they are targeting.

Anti-Malware

How Malware Infiltrates Organizations

Nick Holland • April 24, 2018

Malware is a pervasive problem that is constantly evolving, says Christopher Kruegel, CEO of the security firm Lastline, who shares key findings from new research.

Data Breach

Analysis: 'Orangeworm' Attacks Appear to Involve Espionage

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee • April 24, 2018

Corporate espionage appears to be the motive behind cyberattacks targeting a variety of medical-related equipment and systems, researcher Jon DiMaggio of Symantec says in an in-depth interview about the activities of a hacker group the company has dubbed "Orangeworm."

Breach Notification

SunTrust: 1.5 Million Clients' Details Potentially Stolen

Mathew J. Schwartz • April 24, 2018

Great news: "SunTrust to offer free identity protection ... at no cost on an ongoing basis." Of course, nothing comes for free, at least for 1.5 million customers of the Atlanta bank, whose personal details may have been sold to criminals by a former employee.

Deception Technology

Deception Tech: High-Fidelity Alerts If Hackers Take Bait

Jeremy Kirk • April 23, 2018

Deception technology - which involves tricking hackers into lurking on bogus IT assets - can provide crucial intelligence on methods and motives. But is the technology worth the investment?