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
- Healthcare organizations in Ireland, New Zealand and Canada facing intrusions and ransomware attacks
May 20, 2021
Three healthcare institutions in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand are in the midst of security incidents this week, highlighting the perilous cybersecurity landscape within some of the world’s most important organizations. Ireland’s Department of Health was attacked twice in the last week, eventually shutting down their entire IT system after a ransomware attack last Thursday. The ...
- Legislation to secure critical systems against cyberattacks moves forward in the House
May 18, 2021
Multiple bills meant to secure critical infrastructure against cyber threats were approved by the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday afternoon, just a week after a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline caused fuel shortages across the nation. The committee unanimously approved the Pipeline Security Act, introduced last week by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and a ...
- Ireland: ‘Wizard Spider’ cybercrime gang claim Health Service Executive attack
May 18, 2021
Hackers known as Wizard Spider are spinning a web of chaos since it launched a ransomware attack on the Health Service Executive last week. The Russian hackers have claimed responsibility for the most serious ever cyberattack on Ireland’s critical infrastructure. The group, who are seeking ransom of up to €20 million in cryptocurrency, are not motivated by ...
- UK government seeks advice on defending against supply-chain cyberattacks
May 17, 2021
Today, the UK government has announced a call for advice on defending against software supply-chain attacks and ways to strengthen IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs) across the country. The move comes after last week when President Biden had issued an executive order to increase cybersecurity defenses across the U.S. The government’s invitation to provide feedback that will ...
- ‘We won’t pay ransom,’ says Ireland after attack on health service
May 17, 2021
Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) has ruled out giving in to hackers’ demands as the country’s healthcare and social services continue to deal with the disruption caused by a significant ransomware attack that occurred a few days ago. The HSE has now confirmed that a ransom has been sought by the attackers, although the exact amount ...
- DarkSide ransomware servers reportedly seized, operation shuts down
May 14, 2021
The DarkSide ransomware operation has allegedly shut down after the threat actors lost access to servers and their cryptocurrency was transferred to an unknown wallet. This news was shared by a threat actor known as ‘UNKN’, the public-facing representative of the rival REvil ransomware gang, in a forum post first discovered by Recorded Future researcher Dmitry ...
- Ireland: Health service IT systems forced to shut down after ‘fairly sophisticated’ cyber attack
May 14, 2021
Health service IT systems have been shutdown today following a cyber attack that the HSE believes was carried out by international criminals seeking to extort money . The HSE said the main attack began at around 4.30am on Friday and that IT staff switched off systems as a “precaution” in order to protect data and give ...
- How UK National Health Service learned the lessons of WannaCry to protect hospitals from attack
May 13, 2021
Four years ago, the UK’s National Health Service suddenly found itself one of the most high-profile victims of a global cyberattack. On 12 May 2017, WannaCry ransomware hit organisations around the world, but hospitals and GP surgeries throughout England and Scotland were particularly badly affected. A significant number of services were disrupted as malware encrypted computers ...
- Colonial Pipeline paid close to $5 million in ransomware blackmail payment
May 13, 2021
Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid the ransomware group responsible for a cyberattack last week close to $5 million to decrypt locked systems. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that two people close to the matter said a blackmail demand was agreed to within hours of the cyberattack that has impacted the fuel giant’s systems for close to a week. On ...