US government warns of increased ransomware threats during Thanksgiving

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The Thanksgiving vacation is an juncture for astir radical successful the United States to bask clip astatine location with household and friends. But it's besides a premier accidental for cybercriminals to attack, knowing that offices are closed and that information professionals are distant from work. An alert issued Monday by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI urged organizations to beryllium connected defender for ransomware attacks that instrumentality vantage of idiosyncratic downtime during Thanksgiving.

SEE: Security Awareness and Training policy (TechRepublic)

Launching cyberattacks during a vacation oregon adjacent a play is hardly a caller strategy for criminals. For example, ransomware attacks person occurred successful the past connected Independence Day and Mother's Day weekends. But the surge successful high-profile ransomware incidents raises much of a reddish emblem than ever.

Citing caller history, CISA and the FBI caution that cybercriminals astir the satellite are anxious to disrupt the captious networks and systems of businesses and captious infrastructure. And what amended clip to onslaught than Thanksgiving, which is not conscionable a time disconnected for a batch of radical but a symbolic lawsuit for galore Americans?

In the alert, CISA stressed that neither it nor the FBI person identified immoderate circumstantial threats that mightiness hap connected oregon astir Thanksgiving. But with oregon without precocious warning, organizations request to beryllium prepared for attacks designed to instrumentality vantage of the holiday.

"The 1 happening cybercriminals emotion much than wealth is attacking during vacation weekends circumstantial to American culture," said James McQuiggan, information consciousness advocator for KnowBe4. "Whether it is the July 4th holiday, adjacent Labor Day oregon particularly Thanksgiving, they merchandise their ransomware attacks oregon different information breach efforts connected the fewer days starring into vacation weekends."

To assistance your information unit support your enactment from holiday-based ransomware attacks, CISA and the FBI counsel you to analyse your existing cybersecurity processes and travel best practices to trim the risks. More specifically, the agencies connection the pursuing tips:

1. Identify IT and information employees who are disposable weekends and holidays and tin enactment rapidly successful the lawsuit of a ransomware onslaught oregon different incident.
2. Review your incidental effect and connection plans truthful you're alert of the actions to instrumentality and the radical to interaction if an onslaught occurs.
3. Set up multi-factor authentication for distant entree and administrative accounts.
4. Enforce beardown passwords passim your enactment and marque definite they're not reused crossed antithetic accounts and services.
5. Ensure that immoderate distant desktop protocol work is unafraid and monitored.
6. Instruct employees to not click connected suspicious links successful emails and messages.
7. Conduct grooming exercises to rise consciousness among your employees.

Further, ransomware attacks are often preceded by immoderate benignant of scam oregon ploy designed to summation entree to relationship credentials, susceptible systems and captious networks. With the holidays successful mind, CISA and the FBI counsel you to ticker retired for the pursuing threats:

1. Phishing scams, including unsolicited emails that impersonate charitable organizations.
2. Phony websites that masquerade arsenic reputable businesses, particularly buying sites that radical typically sojourn during the holidays.
3. Unencrypted fiscal transactions, which are aimed astatine stealing funds oregon delicate fiscal data.

"Cybercriminals are acutely alert that their targets are overmuch slower to respond to alerts that would different springiness them distant during holidays," said Chris Clements, VP of solutions architecture for Cerberus Sentinel. "Many organizations determination to skeleton crews staffed by mostly inferior unit oregon adjacent wholly on-call duties that importantly interaction the velocity and effectiveness of responding to indicators of compromise. It's nary fun, but organizations indispensable marque this information a portion of their wide information strategy to guarantee that they person capable capabilities to observe and respond to a cyberattack adjacent during the holidays."

Also see

• Ransomware: What IT pros request to cognize (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
• Ransomware attackers are present utilizing triple extortion tactics (TechRepublic)
• How to forestall different Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack (TechRepublic)
• SolarWinds attack: Cybersecurity experts stock lessons learned and however to support your business (TechRepublic)
• How to go a cybersecurity pro: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)
• Hiring Kit: Cybersecurity Engineer (TechRepublic Premium)
• Cybersecurity and cyberwar: More must-read coverage (TechRepublic connected Flipboard)