The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have observed an increase in highly impactful ransomware attacks occurring on holidays and weekends—when offices are normally closed—in the United States, as recently as the Fourth of July holiday in 2021. The FBI and CISA do not currently have any specific threat reporting indicating a cyberattack will occur over the upcoming Labor Day holiday. However, the FBI and CISA are sharing the below information to provide awareness to be especially diligent in your network defense practices in the run up to holidays and weekends, based on recent actor tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and cyberattacks over holidays and weekends during the past few months. The FBI and CISA encourage all entities to examine their current cybersecurity posture and implement the recommended best practices and mitigations to manage the risk posed by all cyber threats, including ransomware.
Click here for a PDF copy of this report.
Immediate Actions You Can Take Now to Protect Against Ransomware
• Make an offline backup of your data.
• Do not click on suspicious links.
• If you use RDP, secure and monitor it.
• Update your OS and software.
• Use strong passwords.
• Use multi-factor authentication.
Cyber Senate will be gathering for the first Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure show to take place since the pandemic started, live, face to face, and virtual (hybrid), September 22-24th. Learn more here, we strongly recommend manufacturers and operators of essential services join this information-sharing forum to create further awareness within their communities, share common practices and learn from leading subject matter experts on the latest emerging technologies and developments to ensure resiliency.
The impacts of ransomware on operational technology have yet to get the attention it deserves and we intend on addressing these issues at our 8th annual conference.
