Cyber Threat Report: Cyber Security News for 05/03/24

Lessons From LOCKED SHIELDS 2024 Cyber Exercise
The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage, and that it plans to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist. Read More

Pro-Russia Hackers Target OT Weaknesses in Critical Infrastructure
In each case, the hacktivists maxed out set points, altered other settings, turned off alarm mechanisms, and changed administrative passwords to lock out the WWS operators. Read More

Cybersecurity Consultant Arrested After Allegedly Extorting IT Firm
The Department of Justice says Cannady threatened to publicly disclose this sensitive information unless the company agreed to pay him up to $1.5 million as a settlement for what he claimed was employment discrimination. Read More

Cyber Insurance Gaps Stick Firms with Millions in Uncovered Losses
The study underscores how many companies rely on cyber insurance to cover the losses incurred as a result of cyber incidents and are then taken by surprise when they find that their insurance only covers a small portion Read More

Lawsuits and Company Devaluations Await For Breached Firms
14% experienced customer churn (up from 10%) while a fifth (20%) lost competitive advantage due to these attacks (up from 13% in 2023) Read More

Vulnerability Exploits Triple as Initial Access Point for Data Breaches
The exploitation of vulnerabilities as an initial access step for a breach increased by a staggering 180% between 2022 and 2023, according to Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report. Read More

73% of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Security pros Missed or Ignored Critical Alerts
IT staff is overwhelmed by the complexity and demands of managing multiple tools in their security stack, leading them to miss critical severity events and weaken their company’s security posture. Read More

Ransom Recovery Costs Reach $2.73 million
The average ransom payment has increased by 500% in the last year. Organizations that paid the ransom reported an average payment of $2 million, up from $400,000 in 2023. Read More

HEADLINE PRIVACY & IT SECURITY COMPLIANCE NEWS

FBI Director Christopher Wray recently emphasized the immediate threat posed by China to U.S. national and economic security, particularly targeting critical infrastructure. To counter this threat, stronger partnerships between governments, commercial entities, and academic institutions are essential, as highlighted during the LOCKED SHIELDS 2024 cyber exercise, where over 3,000 participants from 38 nations collaborated to combat cyber threats. Lessons from the exercise underscored the vulnerabilities of operational technology (OT) in critical infrastructures such as energy, finance, and defense, emphasizing the urgent need for improved cybersecurity measures and interagency collaboration to mitigate risks and protect against future attacks.

Pro-Russian hackers have launched attacks against industrial control systems in North America and Europe, causing physical disruptions, including overflowing water tanks. Government agencies like CISA have issued advisories urging critical infrastructure operators to defend against these unsophisticated but potentially dangerous attacks by hardening HMIs, limiting OT system exposure to the internet, and using strong passwords. While the responsible group, CyberArmyofRussia_Reborn, claims association with Sandworm, experts emphasize the seriousness of these attacks, calling for increased cybersecurity funding and measures to protect critical infrastructure.

Get in touch with us to learn more about how the team of experts at JANUS can help protect your business effectively. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.