Veeam Cybersecurity Poll

I use Veeam back up software for Microsoft 365 backups. It is an excellent, efficient, and effective backup program. It is used specifically for team SharePoint sites, user mailboxes, and user OneDrives (‘My-SharePoint’). I installed the needed Veeam modules on a standalone Azure virtual machine which communicates to our related cloud services. Although this article is very useful, the headline is a bit misleading. 76% of organizations have not admitted to paying ransomware to criminals so they could recoup locked data. But 76% of organizations affected by ransomware did pay ransomware to hackers. Per Veeam’s survey: (we) “surveyed 1,000 IT leaders whose organizations had been successfully attacked by ransomware at least once during the past 12 months”. So, of those hacked, 76% had made some payouts. This is all very good information.

A very important additional piece of information is that 19% of those affected by ransomware (in this survey) did not need to pay any ransomware because … they had proper and secured backups. This, of course, is the objective. Ransomware breaches are failures in the penetration sense. But at least a proper organizational backup strategy can remedy any data loss. Once backup data is retrieved and restored, security breaches can be investigated, analyzed, and fixed.

Cybersecurity Research: 76% of Organizations Admit to Paying Ransomware Criminals, with One-Third Still Unable to Recover Data (veeam.com)

Me too!

Courtesy of:
https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/cartoon-phishing-intelligence-/d/d-id/1337593

FREE Trend Micro House Call

Did you ever get that feeling that your computer was acting “funny” or was “too slow”, in an unusual sort of way? Or maybe you read a recent article about the latest malware or creepy hack attack that got you thinking about hijacked video cameras? Sometimes hacks can bypass your traditional antivirus or endpoint security. Every once in a while, I like to run the Trend Micro awesome free security scan.

There is nothing wrong with double checking your current security software! Two eyes are better than one. Trend Micro has a long track record in the security software world. They are well regarded and this is a very solid offering. Obviously, the fact that it is free makes it even better! It can be downloaded and quickly installed and run right away. Always run a full scan in this case [not the quick scan]- go big or go home, so to speak. If Trend Micro is currently in use, try the McAfee free option.

So far, so good:

Grab the free security scan here

Anti Virus Final Arbiter

Computer Antivirus software continues to be very relevant and necessary these days, despite the fact that social engineering and malware exploits may be more dangerous and numerous. Of course, most antivirus programs these days are combined with other security services [suites] or they do account for the various methods hackers employ to cause trouble, get your information or money. Everyone should use one of the top 4 or 5 rated antivirus programs (Norton, McAfee, ESET etc.) or at least Windows Defender on a PC, if you are on a budget.

But if you get a file or website virus type warning, it is always best to double check or cross reference from VirusTotal.Com. This super useful site allows for uploading files to the site for a quick analysis. Your antivirus would likely quarantine or delete a suspicious file but it is possible a mistake was made, so why not double check? And it is free! Also, any file can be uploaded for a quick ‘virus check’, not just the files giving warning etc. from a scan application. Finally, actual web site addresses can be checked. This can be useful if you are on a site that is acting slow, unusual or one that gives you that weird, uncertain feeling.

Site summary services:

“Any user can select a file from their computer using their browser and send it to VirusTotal. VirusTotal offers a number of file submission methods, including the primary public web interface, desktop uploaders, browser extensions and a programmatic API. The web interface has the highest scanning priority among the publicly available submission methods. Submissions may be scripted in any programming language using the HTTP-based public API.

As with files, URLs can be submitted via several different means including the VirusTotal webpage, browser extensions and the API.

Upon submitting a file or URL basic results are shared with the submitter, and also between the examining partners, who use results to improve their own systems. As a result, by submitting files, URLs, domains, etc. to VirusTotal you are contributing to raise the global IT security level.”

The website:

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/upload

Example of a random Windows executable file [from System32 folder] results, below.

This is a safe, standard Windows master boot record related file, called “MBR2GPT”. I know it is safe, but, this is to give a demo of the positive results. If you see a file, any file, that looks suspicious or maybe have never seen before, upload it and see for yourself.

Antivirus Companies Hacked?

In a nutshell: the cybersecurity companies that design software that is intended to protect our computers … got hacked. Therefore, it is fully possible that now the hackers understand the defense mechanisms of the companies that fight cybersecurity, at least at the PC, Mac, workstation level and maybe more. This is not good!

Details are sketchy, as is common with these hacks, and two of the victims [Norton and McAfee] deny any breach, but Trend Micro admits a breach occurred. Although Trend said the hack only affected their “lab”, this does not necessarily make customers feel any better about it, given they are in the CYBERSECURITY industry.

Read about it here

Live Cyber Attack Threat Map

This “Check Point” [or “ThreatCloud”] cyber attack map is mesmerizing. It is a live cyber or hack attack map containing oodles of attack lines that follow live, currently in progress cyber attacks. The threat map lists the time, the attack name [or virus or hack type], the source and the intended victim location: the target.

The attacks are unrelenting and endless and the lines are ongoing in this dynamic situation.

One take away I have is that every country in the world can be a cyber target. Likewise, attack sources seem to come from almost anywhere in the world, although ‘botnets’ [a group of secretly hacked, controlled computers] are likely a major factor in this.

Here is the web address for the live map:

https://threatmap.checkpoint.com/ThreatPortal/livemap.html

Atlanta hit by ransomware attack

This is actually [indirectly] courtesy of the US Government’s NSA, from a few years ago. They actually created the code that exploits Microsoft Servers that face the internet directly.

“It’s been almost a week since the City of Atlanta was hit by a ransomware attack, which encrypted city data and led to the shutdown of some services.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in a press conference Monday that the city’s government is working on recovering the network after ransom notes appeared on computer displays on Thursday afternoon. The city has hired local cybersecurity firm SecureWorks to assess the situation.

Reports say the notorious SamSam ransomware was used in the Atlanta attack, which exploits a deserialization vulnerability in Java-based servers. Details of the attack remain largely unknown, but an early investigation may have identified who is behind the attack, said SecureWorks chief executive Michael Cote. Almost a million dollars has been reaped from other businesses that were infected and paid the ransom. It’s not known if Atlanta will pay the ransom.”

Article here.