LockFile Ransomware & FBI Warnings for Agriculture and Food: Cybersecurity News for the Week of 08/30/21

Published 9/9/2021, 9:30am

Ransomware stories continue to trend in the news. Last week, two notable ransomware stories stood out. A new ransomware named LockFile is using a series of distinctive techniques to avoid detection, and the FBI is issuing a stern warning to businesses operating in the food and agriculture sectors on impending ransomware attacks that could significantly impact the supply chain. On that topic, the January attack on the Accellion software has claimed another victim—a Michigan health system announced the loss of data on at least 1,500 patients thanks to a data breach.

• Sneaky LockFile ransomware evades detection with intermittent encryption
• FBI warning: ransomware attacks targeting food and agriculture businesses
• Major Michigan hospital suffers supply chain-related data breach

Final Words

This week’s articles remind us that criminals will take advantage of both opportunity and tough times. They are always looking for angles and ways to attack organizations, stealing what they can and making people’s lives miserable. 

One of the best ways to cope with cybersecurity risk and challenges during dangerous times (and all times are dangerous when it comes to cybercrime) is to build a wide-ranging security strategy that incorporates not only the latest cyber technology but also strategies and structures.

Security tools aren’t the only solution to cyberthreats, nor will they provide the most comprehensive level of protection. Risk assessments, data governance, security awareness training, system backups, security frameworks, and policies like Zero Trust, can all go a tremendously long way to expanding protection and minimizing the impacts of an attack.