Technology

Few Organizations Are Ready for These New Cyber Attacks

Before the pandemic caused much of the U.S. workforce to work from home, Kaspersky Labs reported roughly 200,000 daily brute-force Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) attacks in the U.S. This common technique involves cybercriminals identifying and trying to exploit access to remote computers/servers open to the internet using rapid login attempts, often trying commonly used passwords. By mid-April, the number of RDP brute-force attacks ballooned to almost 1.3 million daily new cyber attacks.  

The exponential growth is likely due to the increase in number of internet-exposed RDP computers/servers as organizations transitioned to a remote workforce. MacAfee reports seeing 3 million internet-exposed RDP ports in January 2020 compared to 4.5 million by the end of March 2020.  

Among the 48 large brands listed on IdentifyForce’s 2020 “worst so far” breach list, are Ancestry.com, Twitter, Amtrak, GoDaddy, Microsoft, Fifth Third Bank, MGM Resorts, Walgreens, J-Crew, T-Mobile, GE, Marriott, SFO, Nintendo, and Facebook have all succumbed to cybercriminals. In fact, in early 2020, exposed records were pacing at an increase of 273% when compared to 2019.  

Late July 2020 news headlines like “Florida Teenager Charged as ‘Mastermind’ of Twitter Hack” remind the world that even a kid can hack into a major enterprise. With swift changes to workflows and operations due to COVID-19, organizations are at more risk than ever before. Work from home is here to stay (for now, and potentially for years to come) and it’s time to rethink how you protect your organization.  

What’s a company to do you might ask?  

1.  As the recent research survey by the Cloud Security Alliance illustrates, 50% of organizations don’t have the staffing or experience to implement new security controls around a dispersed workforce, bringing in a team of trusted advisors can quickly scale up resources without long-term expenditure of a mass direct-hiring spree.  
2.  Implementing cloud workflows and infrastructure can help organizations maintain control of digital assets, allow of production systems to be scaled based on demand, and help companies remain flexible during uncertain times. “We are thinking of letting our office space go as we have not been in the office since March… I’m glad we got set-up on the cloud a while ago” said one Richey May Technology Solutions’ recent cloud migration client.  
3.  As seen by the RDP brute-force attack statistics above, we can all agree the attackers are changing tactics and upping their game with new cyber attacks. Similarly, organizations need change their defensive stance against the shifting attacks. The focus needs to be on the endpoint with an emphasis on speed to detect and respond to cyberattacks on a decentralized workforce. Think about the challenges of quickly and forensically acquiring incriminating data from numerous systems outside the walls for the corporate office. Retaining an experienced team like Richey May Technology Solutions, which has worked numerous incident response and forensic cases since the beginning of the pandemic, will give you the advantage against cybercriminals. 

For more information on Richey May Technology Solutions’ elite cybersecurity trusted advisory team or how to save money while protecting sensitive content, contact us today.