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This week, ransomware disrupts remote work, accidental data sharing compromises customer data, and cybersecurity events reach an all-time high.
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Dark Web ID Trends:
Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forums
Top Compromise Type: Domain
Top Industry: Law firm, food producer, dating app
Top Employee Count: 501+
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United States – Grubman Shire Meiselas & Slack
Exploit: Malware Attack
Grubman Shire Meiselas & Slack: Law Firm
Risk to Small Business: 1.409 = Extreme
A ransomware attack has compromised the highly sensitive personal data of dozens of high profile clients including tech giants, A-List celebrities, and sports stars. The law firm lost 756GB of client data in the attack. Cybercriminals are threatening to release the information in nine installments unless the firm pays a ransom, believed to exceed $20 million. This attack reflects a ransomware trend: hackers steal company data and demand payment. Until now, many were content to simply encrypt an organization’s network in hopes of being paid for a decryption key. Unfortunately, this new methodology is much more expensive, which could undermine the organization’s long-term reputation and viability.
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Individual Risk: 1.560 = Extreme
Cybercriminals obtained extremely detailed private information about high-profile clients including names, contract details, phone numbers, email addresses, personal correspondence, legal filings, and non-disclosure agreements. This information is often used to perpetuate blackmail, spear phishing attacks, identity theft, and other crimes. Those impacted by the breach should enroll in credit and identity monitoring services. In addition, Dark Web monitoring offers insights into the spread of personal information, bolstering their ability to respond to misuse.
Customers Impacted: Unknown
What Can You Learn from Their Mistake?
Ransomware attacks are increasingly becoming data loss events, as cybercriminals steal data before encrypting critical IT. This compounds the cost and consequences of an attack, and it should encourage every organization to assess its defensive posture in relation to this threat.
How Can Spry Squared Help?
We go into the Dark Web to keep you out of it. Spry Squared’s Managed IT Services offers Dark Web monitoring services that combine human and sophisticated Dark Web intelligence with search capabilities to identify, analyze and proactively monitor for an organization’s compromised or stolen employee and customer data. Schedule a demo today.
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United States – Sparboe
Exploit: Ransomeware
Sparboe: Egg producer
Risk to Small Business: 2.351 = Severe
Cybercriminals targeted a vulnerable food supplier with ransomware that encrypted files and exfiltrated data. In addition to product-related information, cybercriminals also obtained personal data on current and former employees. Now, the company faces an arduous recovery process that will involve resuscitating its reputation as it grapples with the high cybersecurity costs associated with ransomware attacks.
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Individual Risk: 2.829 = Moderate
Although it’s unclear what data was compromised, current and former employees should assume the worst. Since companies collect and store employees’ most sensitive personal and financial data, all of this information could be available to bad actors. Those impacted should notify their financial institutions while taking care to monitor their accounts and communications for unusual or suspicious activity.
Customers Impacted: Unknown
What Can You Learn from Their Mistake?
A cybersecurity incident is a permanent stain on an organization’s reputation that can impact customer loyalty, employee retention, and future capability. Cybersecurity has implications for every facet of a business, as the investment in defensive capabilities will far outweigh the collective costs of a data loss event.
How Can Spry Squared Help?
Our Managed IT Services can help you protect your employees’ digital identities, your data, and your clients. Our remote-ready solution packs multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and password management tools in one affordable, easy-to-deploy package. Click here to get started or call 720.724.7730.
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Australia – Localsearch
Exploit: Accidental data sharing
Localsearch: Internet marketing service
Risk to Small Business: 1.363 = Extreme
Localsearch published a directory of unlisted numbers, running afoul of the country’s data privacy laws. The move resulted in a formal warning from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) after it conducted an investigation into the mishap, which occurred when the company failed to remove unlisted numbers when culling information from the Integrated Public Number Databases. It was the first warning issued by the ACMA, and it serves as a reminder that businesses that don’t comply with data privacy standards can expect that there will be repercussions for their actions.
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Individual Risk: 1.602 = Severe
TAn unspecified amount of unlisted phone numbers were published in the company’s directory. Although Localsearch has taken steps to remove this information, it’s possible that private information is already in the hands of bad actors. Those impacted should carefully scrutinize unexpected or unusual communications, as this information could be used in phishing scams or other fraud attempts.
Customers Impacted: Unknown
What Can You Learn from Their Mistake?
Adhering to the growing list of data privacy standards can be challenging, even for companies with vast financial and personnel resources to address the problem. However, now more than ever, it’s clear that businesses will need to adopt policies and practices to secure sensitive or regulated data as a part of their day-to-day operations and watch carefully for Dark Web threats to that data.
How Can Spry Squared Help?
Spry Squared Managed IT Services offers Compliance Management, so your company can automate data privacy standards and documentation responsibilities, making compliance a simple, intuitive process for everyone.
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In Other News:
2/3 of Consumers Reuse Their Passwords on Multiple Platforms
Despite years of advocacy for strong, unique passwords for each digital service, most people continue to reuse their credentials across various online platforms, a risk that is warned against in our password security information package.
It looks to be more attributable to a desire for convenience than ignorance – a recent consumer survey found that 91% of consumers recognize the risk of reusing their passwords across multiple platforms, but 66% continue to use the same passwords anyway.
People are still making weak and easily guessed passwords in popular categories too. At the same time, 53% have not changed their passwords in the past year, leaving multiple platforms vulnerable to the treasure trove of login credentials available on the Dark Web.
Users who reuse passwords are primarily concerned with the hassle of a reset – 60% are worried about forgetting their login credentials, and 52% want more control over their passwords. Today’s businesses need to understand that this trend impacts their employees and their customers, putting their critical IT at risk along the way.
Using tools and services that support good password hygiene, offering things like single sign-on, two-factor authentication, and other password-oriented enhancements, and enforcing stricter password reuse and sharing policies can help mitigate the risk of password compromise through password reuse and weakness.
COVID-19 Leads to Record-Breaking Cybercriminal Activity
As the world grapples with the far-reaching implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, cybercriminals are capitalizing on the chaos to unleash an unprecedented number of attacks against businesses and individuals. Bad actors have unleashed an onslaught of phishing scams, 30% of which are directly related to COVID-19.
These malicious messages are joined by 854,411 phishing or counterfeit websites, four million suspicious websites, and an unprecedented surge in corporate cyberespionage, especially in healthcare. In addition, cybercriminals are hawking unproven cures, fraudulent charities, and other troubling trends. For instance, researchers found 1,092 websites pushing hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19.
Experts note that cybercriminals are relying on peoples’ desire for insight in an unstable information landscape, concerns about economic instability, and generalized anxiety as prominent factors that make these scams so effective. In response, every organization needs to prepare its employees for this new reality, making employee awareness training an essential defensive strategy in today’s rapidly changing digital ecosystem.
Consequently, now is the time for every company to reassess its cyber preparedness in light of the new realities posed by COVID-19. If we can support these efforts in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact our team!
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Not sure how safe your data is OR is your company data already on the Dark Web?
Contact the cybersecurity experts at Spry Squared for your complimentary Dark Web scan.
Thanks to our cybersecurity partner ID agent for this Week in Breach report!
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