Preventing Ransomware Attacks Through Cyber Maintenance

05/19/22 • 18 min

There were a lot of trends emanating from the mid-1980s that thankfully died out over time, but one of them has not only persisted, but thrived. Although there were numerous samples of malware impacting early computer networks, the one that captured both headlines and the admiration of cyber criminals was the PC-Write Trojan virus.

Iterations would follow, with perhaps the best known example of industrial malware – Stuxnet – being introduced about 25 years later. It would be topped by WannaCry Ransomware just seven years after that.

In all these cases, bad actors were able to probe vulnerabilities, identify weak spots, and exploit these lapses in erasing data, eliminating access, or promising more extensive damage if their monetary demands were not met.

These viruses, worms and malicious coding is still present today, and those armed with this malware have gotten smarter, their attacks more complex, and their search for victims more intense. The industrial sector and municipal utilities, with their combination of lucrative IP, essential production models and lagging security protocols, have become a favorite target.

Joining us today to help navigate this minefield of bad actors is Marty Edwards. He’s the Vice President of OT Security at Tenable – a leading provider of infrastructure and cloud network software and security solutions.

To catch up on past episodes, you can go to Manufacturing.net, IEN.com or MBTmag.com. You can also check Security Breach out wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Amazon and Overcast.
If you have a cybersecurity story or topic that you’d like to have us explore on Security Breach, you can reach me at [email protected].
To download our latest report on industrial cybersecurity, The Industrial Sector’s New Battlefield, click here.

Previous Episode

'The Bad Guys Are Smart, Too'

You’ve probably heard a number of reports citing ransomware as the leading attack strategy within the industrial sector. In some instances, it’s been reported that ransomware groups are focusing as much as 70 percent of their activity on manufacturing enterprises.

In one report from ICS security specialist Dragos, it was reported that 65 percent of all attacks thrown at the industrial sector were of the ransomware variety. And according to this episode's guest, cybersecurity attacks like these are never a one-and-done occurrence, meaning on-going vigilance against ransomware criminals and the like require on-going security diligence.

Greg Scasny is the CTO of Blueshift Cybersecurity, a provider of security solutions focused on helping small and medium-sized enterprises develop and maintain a security posture that simultaneously defends against attacks while working to preserve ongoing operations.

Next Episode

Latest Tools of Choice for Hackers: Raspberry Robin and BlackCat

What else can we say as it relates to the industrial sector and the cybersecurity threats that continue to present themselves, other than – the battle wages on.

The value of the sector’s IP, the plethora of personal information and the vital need to maintain uptime makes manufacturing a favorite target of hackers. And as those in the financial and healthcare markets know all too well, recognition of the threat only seems to spur the creation of new and better weapons focused on wreaking havoc.

So, joining us today to discuss some of the latest threats to hit the industrial sector is Lauren Podber – she’s a Principal Intelligence Analyst at Red Canary, firm that specializes in managing cybersecurity endpoint detection, planning and response. They were also among the first to assess the first threat we’re going to discuss – Raspberry Robin.

For more information on the work Red Canary does, you can go to www.redcanary.com