Critical Infrastructure Protection


Today’s interdependent and interconnected world requires joint efforts and holistic approaches to protect critical infrastructure assets from the growing number of attacks and to address ever-evolving cyber threats to government, energy, healthcare, education, banking, transportation, telecommunication and other critical sectors.

With a dedicated section focusing on Critical Infrastructure protection, we aim to enhance cooperation and engage security professionals through news, articles and in-depth analysis of emerging threats and technologies.


NEWS

  • Cyberattack shuts down Ecuador’s largest bank, Banco Pichincha

    October 12, 2021

    Ecuador’s largest private bank Banco Pichincha has suffered a cyberattack that disrupted operations and taken the ATM and online banking portal offline. The cyberattack occurred over the weekend, causing the bank to shut down portions of their network to prevent the attack’s spread to other systems. Read more… Source: Bleeping Computer  

  • European Parliament passes non-binding resolution to ban facial recognition

    October 7, 2021

    The European Parliament has voted in favour to a resolution banning law enforcement from using facial recognition systems. In explaining the resolution, the European Parliament said the use of AI by law enforcement currently poses various risks spanning opaque decision-making, discrimination, privacy intrusion, challenges to the protection of personal data, human dignity, and the freedom of ...

  • US and EU to cooperate on tech standards, supply chain security and tech development

    September 30, 2021

    The United States and the European Union have started work on coordinating approaches across various technology areas, including AI and semiconductors, and tackling non-market policies that result in the misuse of technology. The plan was created on Wednesday after US and EU representatives, including US President Joe Biden and European Commission Vice Presidents Valdis Dombrovskis and ...

  • NSA-CISA Guidance: Selecting and Hardening Remote Access VPN Solutions

    September 30, 2021

    Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) allow users to remotely connect to a corporate network via a secure tunnel. Through this tunnel, users can take advantage of the internal services and protections normally offered to on-site users, such as email/collaboration tools, sensitive document repositories, and perimeter firewalls and gateways. Because remote access VPN servers are entry points into protected networks, they ...

  • Alabama: Baby died because of ransomware attack on hospital

    September 30, 2021

    An Alabama baby was born with severe brain injury and eventually died due to botched care because her hospital was struggling with a ransomware attack, a lawsuit alleges. The filing is the first credible public claim that someone’s death was caused at least in part by hackers who remotely shut down hospital computers in an extortion ...

  • United Health Centers ransomware attack claimed by Vice Society

    September 24, 2021

    California-based United Health Centers suffered a ransomware attack that reportedly disrupted all of their locations and resulted in patient data theft. United Health Centers is a health care provider in California with twenty-one community health centers servicing Fresno, Kings, and Tulare counties. On August 31st, BleepingComputer was told by a source in the cybersecurity industry that United ...

  • CISA, FBI, and NSA Release Conti Ransomware Advisory To Help Organizations Reduce Risk Of Attack

    September 22, 2021

    WASHINGTON – The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA) published a cybersecurity advisory today regarding increased Conti ransomware cyberattacks. The advisory includes technical details on the threat and mitigation steps that public and private sector organizations can take to reduce their risk to this ransomware. CISA ...

  • CISA: Sharing Information To Get Ahead Of Supply Chain Risks

    September 21, 2021

    The increase in digitization and use of information and communications technology (ICT) has improved ability of many companies to provide National Critical Functions. ICT enables access to real-time information, remote entry to networks, instant communication, and so much more. At the same time, nation-states seeking to cause harm to the United States (i.e., espionage or ...

  • Ransomware encrypts South Africa’s entire Dept of Justice network

    September 15, 2021

    The justice ministry of the South African government is working on restoring its operations after a recent ransomware attack encrypted all its systems, making all electronic services unavailable both internally and to the public. As a consequence of the attack, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said that child maintenance payments are now on hold ...