On June 27, 2017, an ongoing cyberattack was discovered that utilized a variant of a prior, widespread, ransomware exploit known as Petya. This new attack, dubbed NotPetya by Kaspersky Labs, appeared to originate in Ukraine, but it quickly spread across Europe and the United States. NotPetya makes use of some components of the NSA hacking tools revealed earlier this year from the Vault7 dump by the Shadow Brokers. Researchers have discovered that the creators of the malware did not appear to do it for monetary purposes, noting that many red flags existed to show that this attack was designed to be a “wiper,” simply destroying all infected systems.
Ransomware and other similar malware variants have been extremely detrimental to many organizations already this year. Beginning with WannaCry, and now NotPetya, these vicious pieces of software have exploited security weaknesses that many companies struggle with on an ongoing basis, specifically, deficiencies in patching processes, internal system misconfigurations, and lack of secure practices in general. The cost to organizations can be significant, including consumption of IT personnel, system downtime, and outright data loss. “Essentially, organizations can prevent these types of attacks by maintaining good security hygiene,” states JR Johnson, Senior Vulnerability Researcher with nGuard. “Starting with patch management, good back-up processes and infrastructure, and regular security audits by third-parties. With good security best practices, organizations can almost completely prevent these types of attacks from significantly affecting them.”
Regardless of an organization’s security program maturity, nGuard recommends that organizations take the time to evaluate their resiliency to these types of attacks. Whether it is a strategic assessment of your organization’s security posture or tactical penetration testing to determine the effectiveness of your current security controls, nGuard can help your company be prepared for the next malware outbreak.
About nGuard Corporation
nGuard is a leading provider of expert security assessments, managed security services, security incident response, and other advanced security services to organizations across North American & around the world. nGuard’s relentless focus on securing clients, as well as their unmatched security expertise, has helped them become one of the most sought after security firms in North America.
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