Why Ransomware and BEC Attacks Are So Successful

In 2021, ransomware remains an extremely impactful threat, with an estimated attack occurring every 11 seconds. Not only is the frequency of ransomware increasing, but it is reported the average ransom fee has increased from $5,000 in 2018 to $200,000 today, with several recent payouts crossing the $10M mark. With all of the recent spotlight on growing ransomware attack volumes and damages arising from phishing, business email compromise and account takeovers, you would certainly want to believe the cybersecurity industry would be focused on increasing security controls and detection policies to prevent such attacks.

From 2020 to 2021, SecureSky’s Global Threat Intelligence Center found among all clients that while some strides were made, unfortunately, it is still way too easy to infiltrate an organization’s email system.

Foundational Security Controls for Microsoft Teams

Work-from-home requirements over the past year forced many organizations to rapidly increase adoption of video and collaboration applications like Microsoft Teams and Zoom without thorough security reviews and risk assessments. This large-scale increase in demand also surprised the providers, as numerous security and operational maturity issues arose as usage and attacks skyrocketed. Also, many organizations are employing these solutions in "new usage areas" such as medicine and education, that require specific access control, confidentiality, and financial management conditions.

Investigating User Account Compromises in Office 365

Unfortunately, almost every organization at some point will have to manage a situation where a user’s account has been compromised. In this blog post, we present O365 native tools and techniques that organizations can utilize.

Implementing Foundational Security Controls for Every Office 365 Environment

In our previous post, we provided an overview of each of the 12 Foundational Security Controls that should be implemented for every Office 365 environment to deter business email compromise (BEC), account takeover (ATO) attacks, and unauthorized data access.

Foundational Security Controls for Every Office 365 Environment

As many organizations continue to adjust to an extended and potentially permanent remote workforce, dependency on cloud services has increased rapidly – as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated in a recent earnings release – “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.” The following post is intended to help organizations that may have recently begun using or have increased their usage of Office 365. 

Please note Microsoft continues to evolve their platform and these recommendations are current as of this posting.

Microsoft Security Defaults – A Step in the Right Direction, but Customers Should Do More

We understand that managing security for Office 365 can be difficult and complex. As we continue to see common identity-related attacks against authentication like password spray, replay, phishing and malware-based increasing into today’s uncertain world it's imperative that we understand Microsoft’s “Security Defaults”.   

SecureSky Cyber Threat Center Sees Greater Than 6 Times Increase In Attacks

But There’s Still a Lot of Good Things Happening In These Trying Times! One of the most staggering statistics reported recently from the SecureSky Cyber Threat Center is seeing a 6x-7x increase in fraudulent scams and BEC cases in the last 30 days, with COVID-19 themes – phishing, fake investment, charities, prevention or treatment offers and testing scams. We have seen similar trending of overall phishing volumes from multiple clients and email gateway providers, which correlates to the sharp uptick in case volume, as well as click rates.

Top 10 Ways To Reduce WFH Bandwidth Consumption

In the new work-from-home (and school-from-home) era, between adding your family “full-time” to your home wifi and the cloud providers and ISPs scrambling to increase capacity, many of you have probably already experienced some network slow down or lag. Here are SecureSky’s “Top 10” ways to decrease load and, hopefully, increase your speed:

Will Coronavirus Affect Security Operations?

You cannot open a news site or turn on the television today without rightfully hearing about the coronavirus. While governments and medical systems scramble to respond and contain the virus, it is not clear if the virus will reach epidemic or pandemic levels, how quickly treatment options will become available or how the virus will affect the health and related productivity of large portions of the global population.

The Cloud Balancing Act: Improving Business Outcomes without Degrading Your Security Posture

Who knew that way back in 1964 Bob Dylan would predict the challenges we’re facing with the cloud in 2020. Times they are a-changin’. We’re in the midst of an evolution in IT, led by the rapid adoption of cloud computing, which promises to produce better business outcomes. While most of us have our security posture top-of-mind in the face of these changes, it’s easy to become complacent, think that we have it covered and rely a little too heavily on the out-of-the-box security offered by our cloud providers. In Dylan’s prophetic words, “It’s time to start swimming or sink like a stone.”