When Cyber Gangs 'Get Loud' - Responding to Dynamite Panda, LockBit and Others

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When discussing the industrial sector’s threat landscape, we often detail events that result from vulnerabilities discovered by hackers probing for soft spots within an organization’s networks, connected infrastructure or data storage centers.

However, taking a look at Nuspire’s latest Threat Landscape Report reiterates the need for manufacturers to keep their defenses up even when working with documents, files or websites that would appear to have limited interest from hackers and no connection points to outside parties.
Nuspire reported a 28 percent increase in malware attacks – or about 52,000 detections a day during the second quarter of 2022. While many are being detected and blocked before being seen by the user, some are getting through by disguising themselves as add-ons or support tools for Microsoft Office documents.

Once the user clicks for additional information within these software programs, which contain embedded on-line connections in providing legitimate support and downloadable tools, the malware is downloaded, providing a gateway to any and all of that user’s network, cloud, system and software connections.

During this same period, the company reported a 100 percent increase in botnet activity – reaching a rate of nearly 20,000 attacks per day. This form of malware attaches itself to web pages and emails. Once it is unintentionally downloaded via the targeted user clicking on a link or agreeing to download a false asset, the bug can log keystrokes in stealing login and other personal information that often feeds into ransomware attacks.

Joining us to discuss these ongoing threats is Mike Pedrick, VP of Cybersecurity Consulting for Nuspire – a leading managed security services provider.

To catch up on past episodes, you can go to Manufacturing.net, IEN.com or MBTmag.com. You can also check Security Breach out wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Amazon and Overcast.
If you have a cybersecurity story or topic that you’d like to have us explore on Security Breach, you can reach me at [email protected].