Content by Scott Ferguson

6 Russians Indicted for Destructive NotPeyta Attacks

Scott Ferguson , Doug Olenick  •  October 19, 2020

The U.S. Justice Department unsealed indictments against six Russian military officers on Monday, alleging that they carried out a series of major hacking operations, including deploying destructive NotPetya malware - tied to more than $10 billion in damages - and attacking the 2018 Olympics.

Blackbaud: Hackers May Have Accessed Banking Details

Scott Ferguson , Marianne Kolbasuk McGee  •  October 1, 2020

Blackbaud, a provider of cloud-based marketing, fundraising and customer relationship management software, now acknowledges that a ransomware attack in May could have exposed much more PII - including banking details - than the company initially believed, according to an SEC filing.

Russian Gets 7-Year Sentence for Hacking LinkedIn, Dropbox

Scott Ferguson  •  September 30, 2020

Yevgeniy Nikulin, a Russian national who was found guilty of hacking LinkedIn and Dropbox and stealing millions of user credentials, has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison.

Russian Election Misinformation Campaign Re-Emerges

Scott Ferguson  •  September 1, 2020

Facebook says the Russian troll group that interfered in the 2016 U.S. election is at it again, using sham accounts and a fake news site to spread disinformation in advance of the November election. Facebook says it took down the accounts involved.

'UltraRank' Gang Sells Card Data It Steals

Scott Ferguson , Chinmay Rautmare  •  September 1, 2020

A cybercriminal gang dubbed "UltraRank" that has planted malicious JavaScript code in hundreds of e-commerce websites around the world over the last five years to steal payment card data also takes the unusual step of selling the data on its own, the security firm Group-IB reports.

Ex-Cisco Engineer Pleads Guilty in Insider Threat Case

Scott Ferguson  •  August 29, 2020

A former Cisco engineer has pleaded guilty to causing $1.4 million in damages to his former employer. Sudhish Kasaba Ramesh admitted to deleting 456 virtual machines that affected 16,000 WebEx accounts for weeks, according to the Justice Department.

Steve Bannon, 3 Others, Indicted for Online Fraud

Scott Ferguson  •  August 20, 2020

Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist and 2016 campaign manager for President Donald Trump, and three others have been indicted on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges for allegedly fleecing online donors who contributed money to a campaign to build a wall along the U.S. southern border.

US Seizes $2 Million in Cryptocurrency From Terrorist Groups

Scott Ferguson  •  August 13, 2020

The U.S. Justice Department has seized more than $2 million worth of cryptocurrency from terrorist groups who solicited donations via social media and waged fraud campaigns.

How Incident Response Can Improve Disaster Recovery Plans

Scott Ferguson  •  August 12, 2020

Having a more thorough incident response plan can help organizations mitigate attacks faster and fine-tune their disaster recovery efforts, says Jeremiah Dewey of Rapid7.

Insights on Revamping Recovery Strategies

Scott Ferguson  •  August 3, 2020

In a joint video interview, David Finley at Dell Technologies and Andrew Peters at Unisys offer insights on enterprise strategies for disaster recovery and cyber recovery in light of emerging threats.

Revamping Business Continuity Strategies

Scott Ferguson  •  July 29, 2020

The shift to working from home has changed the threat landscape, forcing organizations to rethink and revamp their business continuity strategies, says Steve Winterfeld of Akamai, who offers insights on mitigating the risks that come with remote work and ensuring employees can access the resources they need.

Ensuring Security as Retailers Reopen

Scott Ferguson  •  July 27, 2020

As the retail and restaurant industries get back to work, there are concerns over how best to protect payment card and customer data as contactless technologies grow in popularity, says Courtney Radke of Fortinet, who offers strategies to mitigate these risks and comply with regulations.

Network Segmentation: Building a Mature Security Model

Scott Ferguson  •  July 21, 2020

Digital transformation, IoT deployments and government regulations are creating new security challenges, especially for financial institutions. Steven Mond of Forescout explains how a mature network segmentation strategy can help address those challenges.

Why Better Visibility Is Key to Better Cloud Security

Scott Ferguson  •  July 21, 2020

Because so many organizations have shifted to a remote workforce, cloud services have become essential, creating new risks. Homayun Yaqub of Forcepoint explains why greater visibility is the key to better security in the new environment.

Asset Management's Role in Improving Security

Scott Ferguson  •  July 20, 2020

Asset management, which is sometimes overlooked, can help improve security plans and reduce risk, says Lenny Zeltser of Axonius, who offers strategic insights.