Tag: ransomware

NCSC CEO warns that ransomware is key cyber threat

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
The chief of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre said ransomware was the key threat facing the UK and urged the public and business to take it seriously.
Speaking virtually to an audience at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Annual Security Lecture, Lindy Cameron warned of the “cumulative effect” of failing to properly deal with the rising threat.
She also revealed the threat faced by think tanks, noting that it is “almost certain” that the primary cyber threat they face is from nation state espionage groups, and it is highly likely that they seek to gain strategic insights into government policy and commercially sensitive information.
The CEO of the NCSC – which is a part of GCHQ – also warned that for the vast majority of UK citizens and organisations, the primary key threat is not state actors but cyber criminals.
She highlighted the importance of building organisational cyber resilience which, in combination with government capabilities and law enforcement action, is the most effective way to counter threats in cyberspace.
Lindy Cameron said:
“For most UK citizens and businesses, and indeed for the vast majority of critical national infrastructure providers and government service providers, the primary key threat is not state actors but cyber criminals, and in particular the threat of ransomware.
“While government is uniquely able to disrupt and deter our adversaries, it is network defenders in industry, and the steps that all organisations and citizens are taking that are protecting the UK from attacks, day in, day out.
“The protection they provide is crucial to the digital transformation of the economy, and every organisation, large and small, has a role to play.”
On the recent rise in ransomware attacks, Lindy Cameron noted that the ecosystem is evolving through the Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) model, whereby ransomware variants and commodity listings are available off the shelf for a one-off payment or a share of the profits.
As the RaaS model has become increasingly successful, with criminal groups securing significant ransom payments from large profitable businesses who cannot afford to lose their data to encryption or to suffer the down time while their services are offline, the market for ransomware has become increasingly “professional”.
Elsewhere, Lindy Cameron also set out the context of the Integrated Review and forthcoming cyber strategy, highlighting the need to better integrate our security, economic, technical, and diplomatic capabilities in support of shared national objectives.
She outlined how our allies and adversaries alike are betting on cyber, and that the UK needs to continue setting the pace.
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CISA Publish Rising Ransomware Threat to Operational Technology Assets Fact Sheet

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector
CISA has published Rising Ransomware Threat to Operational Technology Assets, a fact sheet for critical infrastructure owners and operators detailing the rising threat of ransomware to operational technology (OT) assets and control systems. The document includes several recommended actions and resources that critical infrastructure entities should implement to reduce the risk of this threat.
The guidance:
- Provides steps to prepare for, mitigate against, and respond to attacks;
- Details how the dependencies between an entity’s IT and OT systems can provide a path for attackers; and
- explains how to reduce the risk of severe business degradation if affected by ransomware
Given the importance of critical infrastructure to national security and America’s way of life, CISA published this fact sheet to help organizations build effective resilience.
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Italy announced the creation of the national cybersecurity agency

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
The Italian government has announced the creation of a new agency focused on cybersecurity. Prime Minister Mario Draghi provided its strong commitment to the creation of the agency that is tasked to protect the country and its critical national infrastructure from cyber threats.
The creation of the agency follows warnings by Prime Minister Mario Draghi that Europe needed to protect itself from Russian "interference". The announcements comes after a slew of ransomware attacks in recent months, with recent high profile examples including Colonial Pipeline and JBS.
It will need to "protect national interests and the resilience of services and essential functions of the State from cyber threats," a government statement said. Speaking in Brussels, following a European Union summit, Draghi said urgent action was needed.
"We need to strengthen ourselves a lot, especially in terms of cybersecurity, all of us, at national level and at EU level... because the level of [Russian] interference both with spies and with manipulation of the web has become truly alarming," he said.
The new Italian cybersecurity agency will develop and implement cyber strategies to prevent, monitor, detect and mitigate cyber attacks, and increase the level of cyber security of the country’ infrastructures.
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Ransomware: What board members should know and what they should be asking their technical experts

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
Ransomware is the subject of this spotlight topic for board members, building on the guidance given in the Cyber Security Toolkit for Boards.
The impact of a ransomware attack on an organisation can be devastating. So what should board members be doing to ensure that their organisation is prepared for such a ransomware attack, and in the best possible place to respond quickly ?
This blog, part of the Cyber Security Toolkit for Boards, explains the basics of ransomware, and suggests relevant questions that board members might want to ask their technical experts to help drive greater cyber resilience against these types of attack.
Why should board members concern themselves with ransomware?
Cyber security is a board-level responsibility, and board members should be specifically asking about ransomware as these attacks are becoming both more frequent[1] and more sophisticated.
Ransomware attacks can be massively disruptive to organisations, with victims requiring a significant amount of recovery time to re-enable critical services. These events can also be high profile in nature, with wide public and media interest.
What do board members need to know about ransomware?
Board members don’t need to be able to distinguish their Trickbots and their Ryuks, but knowing the basics of how ransomware works will mean they can have constructive conversations with their technical experts on the subject.
So what do you need to know about ransomware?
- Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents you from accessing your computer (or the data stored on it). Typically, the data is encrypted (so that you can’t use it), but it may also be stolen, or released online.
- Most ransomware we see now is ‘enterprise-wide’. This means it’s not just one user or one machine that is affected but often the whole network. Once they’ve accessed your systems, attackers typically take some time moving around, working out where critical data is saved and how backups are made and stored. Armed with this knowledge the attacker can encrypt the entire network at the most critical moment.
- The attacker will then usually make contact with the victim using an untraceable email address (or an anonymous web page), and demand payment to unlock your computer and/or access your data. Payment is invariably demanded in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and may involve negotiation with the humans behind the ransomware (who have spent time in your organisation’s networks assessing how much you might be willing or able to pay).
- However, even if you do pay the ransom, there is no guarantee that you will get access to your computer, or your files.
- We have also seen cyber criminals threaten to release sensitive data stolen from the network during the attack if the ransom is not paid.
- The government strongly advises against paying ransoms to criminals, including when targeted by ransomware. There are practical reasons for this (see question 4) and also concern that paying ransoms likely encourages cyber criminals to continue such attacks.
Full details at https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/what-board-members-should-know-about-ransomware
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U.S. law enforcement warn of regular, regionally disruptive threats that could impact the delivery of patient care

Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued an alert regarding “Conti,” a highly disruptive ransomware variant. Attacks associated with Conti and the previously published Darkside ransomware variant are believed to be emanating from criminal networks operating from a non-cooperative foreign jurisdiction.

The FBI says it identified at least 16 Conti ransomware attacks targeting U.S. health care and first responder networks, including law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, 911 dispatch centers and municipalities within the last year.

Ransomware attacks associated with these variants have resulted in regionally disruptive impacts to critical infrastructure, including hospitals and health systems in the United States and Ireland. Most recently, hospitals in New Zealand have been hit by disruptive ransomware attacks.

These ransomware attacks have delayed or disrupted the delivery of patient care and pose significant potential risks to patient safety and the communities that rely on hospitals’ availability.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) remains concerned about cyberattacks with the potential to disrupt patient care and jeopardize patient safety. As stated in our testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee in December 2020, the AHA believes that a ransomware attack on a hospital or health system crosses the line from an economic crime to a threat-to-life crime.

The AHA acknowledges and commends the U.S. government’s efforts to share timely and actionable cyber-threat intelligence. However, relying on victimized organizations to individually defend themselves against these attacks is not the solution to this national strategic threat. The vast majority of these attacks originate from outside the United States, often beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement, where ransomware gangs are provided safe harbor and allowed to operate with impunity, sometimes with the active assistance of adversarial nations.

In response, the AHA has urged the government to embark upon a coordinated campaign that will use all diplomatic, financial, law enforcement, intelligence and military cyber capabilities to disrupt these criminal organizations and seize their illegal proceeds, as was done so effectively during the global fight against terrorism.

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Darkside Ransomware: Best Practices for Preventing Business Disruption from Ransomware Attacks

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News

(Updated May 19, 2021): Click here for a STIX package of indicators of compromise (IOCs).
Note: These IOCs were shared with critical infrastructure partners and network defenders on May 10, 2021. The applications listed in the IOCs were leveraged by the threat actors during the course of a compromise. Some of these applications might appear within an organization's enterprise to support legitimate purposes; however, these applications can be used by threat actors to aid in malicious exploitation of an organization's enterprise. CISA and FBI recommend removing any application not deemed necessary for day-to-day operations.

The Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are aware of a ransomware attack affecting a critical infrastructure (CI) entity—a pipeline company—in the United States. Malicious cyber actors deployed Darkside ransomware against the pipeline company’s information technology (IT) network. At this time, there is no indication that the
entity’s operational technology (OT) networks have been directly affected by the ransomware.

CISA and FBI urge CI asset owners and operators to adopt a heightened state of awareness and implement the recommendations listed in the Mitigations section of this Joint Cybersecurity Advisory, including implementing robust network segmentation between IT and OT networks; regularly testing manual controls; and ensuring that backups are implemented, regularly tested, and isolated from network connections. These mitigations will help CI owners and operators improve their entity's functional resilience by reducing their vulnerability to ransomware and the risk of severe business degradation if impacted by ransomware.

Darkside Ransomware: Best Practices for Preventing Business Disruption from Ransomware Attacks

(Updated May 19, 2021): Click here for a STIX package of indicators of compromise (IOCs). Note: These IOCs were shared with critical infrastructure partners and network defenders on May 10, 2021. The applications listed in the IOCs were leveraged by the threat actors during the course of a compromise. Some of these applications might appear within an organization's enterprise to support legitimate purposes; however, these applications can be used by threat actors to aid in malicious exploitation of an organization's enterprise. CISA and FBI recommend removing any application not deemed necessary for day-to-day operations.

The Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are aware of a ransomware attack affecting a critical infrastructure (CI) entity—a pipeline company—in the United States. Malicious cyber actors deployed Darkside ransomware against the pipeline company’s information technology (IT) network. At this time, there is no indication that the
entity’s operational technology (OT) networks have been directly affected by the ransomware.

CISA and FBI urge CI asset owners and operators to adopt a heightened state of awareness and implement the recommendations listed in the Mitigations section of this Joint Cybersecurity Advisory, including implementing robust network segmentation between IT and OT networks; regularly testing manual controls; and ensuring that backups are implemented, regularly tested, and isolated from network connections. These mitigations will help CI owners and operators improve their entity's functional resilience by reducing their vulnerability to ransomware and the risk of severe business degradation if impacted by ransomware.

Mitigations
CISA and FBI urge CI owners and operators to apply the following mitigations to reduce the risk of compromise by ransomware attacks.
- Require multi-factor authentication for remote access to OT and IT networks.
- Enable strong spam filters to prevent phishing emails from reaching end users. Filter emails containing executable files from reaching end users.
- Implement a user training program and simulated attacks for spearphishing to discourage users from visiting malicious websites or opening malicious attachments and reenforce the appropriate user responses to spearphishing emails.
- Filter network traffic to prohibit ingress and egress communications with known malicious IP addresses. Prevent users from accessing malicious websites by implementing URL blocklists and/or allowlists.
- Update software, including operating systems, applications, and firmware on IT network assets, in a timely manner. Consider using a centralized patch management system; use a risk-based assessment strategy to determine which OT network assets and zones should participate in the patch management program.
- Limit access to resources over networks, especially by restricting RDP. After assessing risks, if RDP is deemed operationally necessary, restrict the originating sources and require multi-factor authentication.

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IACIPP Concerned at Increasing Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure

Association News, Cyber Security CII sector, Power/Energy/Oil & Gas sector
The International Association of CIP Professionals (IACIPP) is concerned about the increasing threat and ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure and in particular the energy sector.
As has been demonstrated by the recent ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline in North America, and the impact this has had across other infrastructure services, and the wider economic impact on, for example, the price of petrol and oil, such attacks should be a concern to us all.
"The attack on the Colonial Pipeline Industrial Control System was not a total surprise. For years, our pipeline infrastructure and other critical infrastructures have experienced an ever-increasing level of probes and attacks.  The ICS owners and operators must be vigilant and assure their systems are continuously monitored and armed with the latest cyber protection tools." Commented Dr. Ron Martin, CPP,  Professor of Practice: Critical Infrastructure, Industrial Control System Security, and Access and Identity Management at Capitol Technology University.
Although the FBI and other federal and private cybersecurity entities are working to mitigate the effects of the attack on Colonial Pipeline, there needs to be the wider discussion and collaboration across industry sectors to prepare for future attacks to mitigate future economic impact such attacks cause.
“Our critical infrastructure sectors are the modern day battlefield and cyber space is the great equalizer. Hacker groups can essentially attack with little individual attribution and virtually no consequence. With over 85% of all infrastructure owned and operated by the private sector, significant investment and attention must be placed on hardening key critical systems. I anticipate more attacks like this happening in the future. A key lesson here is that while technology and automation is good, we must also have the ability to efficiently operate manually as well. Attacks will happen, but how quick can you recover and restore critical services?” commented Brian Harrell, Strategic Adviser to IACIPP and Former Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection.
CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have recently released a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) on a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) variant—referred to as DarkSide—recently used in a ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline.
Chuck Brooks, President of Brooks Consulting International and cyber expert, commented, “Protecting critical infrastructure needs to be a shared responsibility of both the public and private sectors. The energy sector become a preferred target of sophisticated hackers often in collusion with nation state actors. The cost of breach as evidenced in the Colonial pipeline ransomware attack can be disruptive to commerce and impact many industry verticals. “
“Critical infrastructure needs to be fortified from cyberattacks and physical attacks in a joint government/industry collaboration. Resources need to be invested in emerging automation technologies and training. IT and OT systems need to be monitored at the sensor level for anomalies. Sensitive operations need to be segmented and air gapped. Back up of data is an imperative and resiliency a requirement for all critical infrastructure operations. It may take new laws and regulations, but it needs to be done.” Concluded Mr Brooks.
The cyberattack against Colonial Pipeline that was discovered on May 7 underscores the growing impact of cyberthreats on industrial sectors. While the investigation is ongoing and important lessons from this attack will be extracted in the next few weeks, the fact that Colonial Pipeline had to pro-actively take their OT systems offline after starting to learn about which IT systems were impacted by the ransomware is significant.
John Donlon QPM the Chairman of IACIPP stated - ‘This type of attack comes as no real surprise. It is consistent with recent trends and what is really quite concerning is the fact that the scale and impact of such events continue to escalate. We have seen recent Government activity across the Western world seeking to put in place support to Infrastructure Owners and Operators but the speed of new attack methodologies, either through nation-state actors or criminal groups, means it is not always easy to keep ahead of the curve. Unfortunately, I believe we will continue to see even greater escalation in the power of attacks being executed and therefore the breadth and depth of collaboration between governments and the private sector has to develop at pace’.
This will also be subject to a case study panel discussion at Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience North America (www.ciprna-expo.com) in New Orleans LA on 19th - 21st of October 2021.
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Universal Health Services lost $67m to ransomware attack

Health & Social Care, Industry News
UHS was among the first hit with the coordinated ransomware wave that targeted the healthcare sector last year. On September 29 last year, Universal Health Services announced in a press release that due to an IT security incident that took place two days earlier, it had to suspend user access to its IT applications related to operations located in the United States.
In the early hours of September 27, UHS clinicians and staff members took to Reddit to determine if other UHS employees across the country were experiencing similar computer and phone outages.
The thread detailed internet and data center outages, with one employee attributing the incident to a ransomware attack after seeing ransom messages from the Ryuk hacking group displayed on some computer screens.
Upon discovery, the IT team took all systems offline to prevent further propagation. The following day, UHS officials confirmed the event as an IT disruption, before reporting as a malware infection several days later.
The disruption caused by the ransomware attack was immense, considering UHS is among the largest providers of hospital and healthcare services in the US, featuring among Fortune 500 companies in 2019 with annual revenue of $11.4 billion and also ranking #330 in Forbes list of U.S.' Largest Public Companies.
The company employs around 90,000 people across 26 acute care hospitals, 330 behavioral health facilities, 41 outpatient facilities, and a number of ambulatory care access points and a network of physicians. Aside from the US, Universal Health Services also operates in Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.
UHS said that it immediately implemented extensive IT security protocols and was working with security partners to restore the affected IT services as soon as possible. The incident caused temporary disruption to some clinical and financial operations, forcing acute care and behavioural health facilities to rely on offline documentation efforts to deliver round-the-clock patient care.
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