Archive for September 20, 2023

Donald Trump Jr. Has His Twitter Account Pwned

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 20, 2023 by itnerd

Numerous news outlets including the BBC are reporting that Donald Trump Jr. who is the son of Donald Trump has had his Twitter account pwned by hackers:

In a string of now deleted posts, the account claimed his father had died and directed a racial slur at President Joe Biden.

The posts were on the page, which has 10 million followers, for less than an hour before being deleted.

The Trump Organization said that the account was hacked.

One of the posts read: “I’m sad to announce, my father Donald Trump has passed away. I will be running for president in 2024.”

Another said North Korea was “about to get smoked”, while one post wrote of “some interesting messages” with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Others mentioned Richard Heart, a cryptocurrency influencer facing fraud charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and YouTuber Logan Paul.

The posts began appearing after 08:00 ET (12:00 GMT).

Though one has to question if Elon Musk led Twitter has a larger issue with security, it is possible that Trump Jr. might have had a weak easy to guess password. Or he was a victim of a credential stuffing attack. That would go back to Elon having a larger issue with security. In any case, this has to hurt if you’re Trump Jr. After all, the ego of anyone named Trump is a fragile thing.

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Cradlepoint 5G Outdoor Adapter Advances Energy Efficiency, Sustainability, and Connectivity Capabilities

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 20, 2023 by itnerd

Cradlepoint, the global leader in cloud-delivered LTE and 5G wireless network edge solutions, today announced the re-designed outdoor Cradlepoint W1855-5GC Wideband Adapter. Adding to Cradlepoint’s innovative 5G portfolio, the W1855 enables enterprises to future-proof connectivity investments as they adopt Standalone (SA) 5G networks and commit to stronger sustainability goals. Purpose-built to require less design materials and operational energy than its predecessor while adhering to the latest 5G standards, the outdoor Cradlepoint W1855-5GC Wideband Adapter ushers in the latest generation of Wireless WAN networking with a goal of supporting global sustainability objectives. 

 As the enterprise adopts innovative 5G connectivity solutions to transform business operations and prevent disruption, the increasing volatility stemming from climate change has highlighted the need to implement technology that mitigates further negative environmental and business impact. According to Gartner, 86 per cent of business leaders see sustainability as an investment that protects their organization from disruption. Designed for distributed sites that require secure cellular connectivity or failover in the event of a primary link disruption, the W1855-5GC Wideband Adapter enables the enterprise to guarantee connectivity while furthering sustainability goals. Key benefits include: 

  • Connectivity offerings for the expansion of 5G: The refreshed modem features the latest 5G standards with 3GPP Release 16 specifications, providing customers with expanded carrier aggregation and band combinations as service providers grow their 5G services. The W1855-5GC adapter is certified on most first responder networks in the United States.* 
  • More sustainable design: Compared to its predecessor, the W1855-5GC Wideband Adapter is 78 per cent smaller and 74 per cent lighter, requiring 30 per cent less energy when under load. In addition, the device is securely packaged with 84 per cent less packaging, which is 100 per cent plastic free. The aluminum housing reinforces Cradlepoint’s commitment to sustainably sourced and recycled materials. 
  • Centralized device management and visibility: With Cradlepoint NetCloud Manager, lean IT teams can successfully manage the deployment, configuration, and troubleshooting of each device from centralized locations, reducing unnecessary complexity and costly on-site visits. 
  • Streamlined installation: At half the size and weight of previous outdoor adapters, the stylized W1855-5GC eases installation for field personnel.  

Cradlepoint’s Commitment to a Sustainable Future 

Cradlepoint and its parent company Ericsson have set an ambition to be Net Zero across its value chain by 2040 and their most important contribution to climate change mitigation is delivering an energy efficient portfolio that will help break the energy curve of mobile networks, reducing customers’ energy use, energy cost and carbon emissions.  

All Cradlepoint routers and adapters are packed using plastic-free and recyclable shipping material. Reducing the impact of used hardware is also important to the company. The Cradlepoint Recycling Program collects, repurposes, and recycles products around the globe.  

For more information on the Cradlepoint W1855-5GC Wideband Adapter, please visit https://cradlepoint.com/product/endpoints/w1855-series-5g-wideband-adapter/. 

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Nikon Canada announces the Nikon Z f

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 20, 2023 by itnerd

Today Nikon Canada Inc. announced the release of the Z f, a full-frame mirrorless camera that harmonizes a timeless aesthetic with the best of Nikon’s next-gen camera technology, derived directly from the acclaimed Z 8 and flagship Z 9. At first glance, the Z f is a definitive statement in functional design that ignites the desire to craft an image. Looking closer, it’s a veritable powerhouse of modern performance fueled by the EXPEED 7 processing engine that enables an enhanced AF system, impressive speed and astounding low-light capability. The new processing power also adds incredible new features such as pixel-shift shooting, the most advanced in-body stabilization of any Z series camera, plus the addition of a dedicated monochrome mode.

Technology Forward

The Z f is equipped with the EXPEED 7 image-processing engine, enhancing response time, burst speed and AF performance, while adding new features to create an entirely new category of Z series full-frame mirrorless. The 24.5-megapixel full-frame BSI CMOS sensor effortlessly captures stunning colors and incredible definition with minimal noise and stellar dynamic range, even in challenging light. This well-balanced sensor is paired with an AF system that offers 3D Tracking plus subject detection developed with Deep Learning technology, detecting and locking on to nine different types of subjects. Similar to the Nikon Z 8, the camera finds people, dogs, cats, birds, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, trains and planes. It can even detect the world’s smallest size of a face in the frame — approximately three per cent of the frame’s longest side. The AF system uses 299 AF points in Auto Area AF, covering 96 per cent of the horizontal axis of the frame, making it easy to lock on and track a subject, even near the edge of the viewfinder. When the inspiration hits to go fully manual, the Z f uses Eye/Face-Detection in MF mode, recognizing the eye and allowing users to magnify the area on the screen to nail critical focus. 

With the additional processing power, the Z f achieves five-axis in-camera vibration reduction (VR) image stabilization equivalent to an 8.0-stop increase in shutter speed, the best among Nikon Z series cameras. The Z f is also the world’s first camera to support focus-point VR, which minimizes blurring at the focus point rather than the centre of the frame, even when the subject is positioned near the edge of the viewfinder. The camera is also capable of high-speed continuous shooting at approximately 14 frames per second, or up to 30 frames per second, when High-Speed Frame Capture+ (C30) is set. To ensure no shot is missed, the camera is also capable of using the Pre-Release function to start recording before the shutter is fully pressed. What’s more, the additional processing power in combination with the BSI sensor improves low-light performance, raising the standard ISO range from 100 to 64,000. In challenging light, even fine details and textures come out sharp and clear with rich saturation, while mid-tones, where noise tends to increase, come out much cleaner than before.

For those who want the ultimate in fidelity while reducing moiré, false colours and noise for immersive depth, the Z f is the first Nikon camera capable of pixel-shift shooting to create images up to 96 megapixels. Ideal for landscape, architecture and commercial artists, the system works by subtly shifting the image sensor position when capturing between 4, 8, 16 or 32 RAW (NEF) files, acquiring more accurate colour information and massive resolution.

Forever Iconic 

The heart of the Z f is “fusion” — an idea embedded in the name while paying homage to important models through Nikon’s history. It represents the fusion of past, present and future. With an iconic exterior design reminiscent of the FM2, the Z f links Nikon’s heritage of innovation and precision craftsmanship. The magnesium-alloy body is durable and features a glossy finish, which is adorned with a classic Nikon logo. The characters on the mechanical dials for shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation are all etched, and provide the user with satisfying tactile response, while the feel of the shutter-release button was given meticulous consideration.

Black and white capture is an ageless medium, one that lets the user see a different perspective and explore the principles of light in new ways. The Z f includes a physical switch to engage a dedicated B&W photo mode, which enables multiple monochromatic Picture Controls. In addition to the sharp, dynamic and higher-contrast “Monochrome” mode in Picture Control, the new “Flat Monochrome” mode reproduces tones with a smooth gradation from shadow to light, rich in mid-tones for a warm, soft impression. The new “Deep Tone Monochrome” mode expresses high-contrast and highlights by bringing more emphasis to dark tones, keeping mid-tones dark and with fewer blocked shadows. 

Primary features of the Z f

  • Full-frame 24.5-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor combined with the new EXPEED 7 Processing engine for amazing fidelity and image quality paired with stellar processing power.
  • Excellent AF tracking capability with 3D-tracking mode for photographers and dedicated Subject-tracking AF in video mode.
  • With up to 299 points in Auto-area AF, the range of coverage and number of focus points used in Auto-area AF mode have been increased for better focus acquisition performance with distant or moving subjects. 
  • The first full-frame Z-series mirrorless camera to be equipped with a vari-angle touchscreen monitor.
  • Starlight view modeboosts display brightness for users to visually confirm composition in extremely dark scenes. It also achieves sharp focus with the low-light limit extendable down to -10 EV.
  • Video frame rates and resolutions up to 4K UHD 30 oversampled from 6K, as well as 4KUHD 60P (DX-mode) and 1080/120P with recording times up to 125 minutes.
  • The first Nikon camera to feature video recording in shutter-priority auto mode, letting the user select the shutter speed, while the camera adjusts the aperture and ISO.
  • In-camera, 10-bit H.265 recording, allowing users to record full-scale video directly to the camera without the need for an external recorder. 
  • The first Z-series camera to support Touch Fn for adjustment of camera settings while framing pictures in the viewfinder. The user is now able to move the focus point via the LCD screen while looking through the viewfinder. 
  • Supports the merging of NEF (RAW) images shot with pixel shift shooting to create a highly detailed image up to 96 megapixels.
  • Fast shooting, with up 14 fps bursts plus High-Speed Frame Capture+ (C30), which achieves high-speed continuous shooting at up to 30 fps. Pre-Release Capture is also available, buffering the images before the shutter is fully depressed.
  • Advanced features for dedicated portrait photographers include the skin softening function and a portrait impression balance functionfor users to better achieve the portraits they intended. Rich Tone Portrait Picture Control is a new setting that better captures details of the subject’s complexion.
  • Equipped with two memory card slots, one compatible with widely available UHS II SD cards and the other compatible with Micro SD cards.
  • Rugged and reliable construction, with magnesium alloy on the front and top covers for maximum durability with minimal weight. The camera is engineered with high dust- and drip-resistance, effective sealing on the exterior cover joints, shutter-release button and vari-angle mechanism. Additionally, the Z f has an electro-conductive coat that keeps the surface clean from dust and a fluorine coat that makes for easier cleaning. 

In addition to the basic black body, the Z f lets users express their own style through six different colour options. These premium exteriors render the embossed artificial leather sections of the camera — covering the grip and all around to the rear of the folding camera monitor — in three rich, expressive standard colours (Indigo Blue, Sepia Brown, Bordeaux Red) and three deep, warm natural colours (Sunset Orange, Moss Green, Stone Gray), rendered with individually matching surface textures. These colours will be sold in limited quantity exclusively through the Nikon Store.

Price and Availability

The new Nikon Z f will be available in October 2023 for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $2,699.95 for the body only. Additional kit configurations will also be available with the retro-styled NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2.0 SE for an MSRP of $3,029.95, or with a NIKKOR Z 24-70mm F/4 S lens for an MSRP of $3,499.95. The additional colour options will be available as body-only for an MSRP of $2,829.95 exclusively from the Nikon Store. Nikon is working with SmallRig to develop a custom grip bracket, which will be available at a later date. For more information about the latest Nikon products, including the vast collection of NIKKOR Z lenses and the entire collection of Z series cameras, please visit  www.nikon.ca.

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ServiceNow delivers comprehensive automation solutions with the Now Platform Vancouver release

Posted in Commentary on September 20, 2023 by itnerd

ServiceNow has announced comprehensive new automation solutions in the Now Platform Vancouver release. The new solutions enhance security and governance, simplify critical processes in healthcare and finance, and accelerate talent transformation through AI.

As businesses across all industries face increased pressure to adapt to technological disruption and show immediate value from digital investments, they are turning to trusted partners to help them drive growth, reduce cost, and mitigate risk. The Vancouver release integrates the latest in automation technology – including powerful, new generative AI solutions – into the Now Platform to help organizations maximize productivity, improve agility, and drive cost efficiency, with the highest levels of digital trust and transparency.

Managing operational and security risk without sacrificing agility

Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, with a 38% increase in 20221. In this heightened threat landscape, boards of directors and regulators alike are pushing CEOs to evolve security plans. IT leaders can no longer rely on point solutions to mitigate the barrage of threats they face. ServiceNow’s Vancouver release empowers customers to innovate faster and operate with more agility while managing increasing security risk.

ServiceNow has continued to expand its robust security portfolio to help customers adapt to modern threats. The Now Platform enables organizations to streamline incident identification and management with intelligent automation, offers an enterprise-wide view into critical risks including vulnerabilities, issues and outages, and protects confidential data with native platform encryption, all on a single platform. The Now Platform Vancouver release represents the next step in ServiceNow’s platform-driven security approach for more resilient, secure digital business models.

ServiceNow Zero Trust Access is the latest feature in ServiceNow Vault helping customers build a zero trust framework for the Now Platform with granular authentication policies. Organizations can securely expand who can use ServiceNow by safeguarding access available to a user in a session based on various risk parameters like location, network, user risk, devices, helping protect customer and proprietary data.

To counter growing security risks beyond the IT department, ServiceNow has expanded Third- Party Risk Management to serve employees in more departments and industries, improving visualization and management of security threats from outside organizations. This is critical as nearly every organization worldwide (98%) has experienced a breach with a third-party vendor in the last two years2.

Third-Party Risk Management gives organizations a single source of truth to easily visualize risk from third-party applications, at scale, for a more holistic, streamlined approach to risk management. New innovations include automated inherent risk questionnaires and out of the box due-diligence workflows to drive greater response time and IT team productivity, as well as enhanced executive reporting for improved board-level visibility and organizational agility.

Open-source software has become commonplace for application development, but they also can introduce security risks. ServiceNow has introduced Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) management to easily process and ingest software components inventory, gain comprehensive insights into their presence within business applications, assess security risk, and drive response workflows. By extending centralized visibility for third-party and home-grown applications, SBOM gives customers the ability to more easily manage cyber risk that can accompany open-source software.

Simplifying mission-critical processes and unlocking value with intelligent automation

Companies could automate 30% of worked hours across all industries3, the majority of which include repetitive processes that are necessary for day-to-day operations but aren’t necessarily value-driving. ServiceNow’s Vancouver release allows organizations to do just that, automating manual processes so that employees can focus on more complex work, and driving ROI from digital investments with significant efficiency gains.

For example, managing the maintenance, security, and compliance needed for clinical devices diverts clinician energy from patient care to paperwork.

ServiceNow’s new Clinical Device Management (CDM) solution simplifies how healthcare providers install, service, manage, and maximize the life of devices, such as MRI and X-ray machines. CDM automates the upkeep and management of these devices, guides staff on ordering parts and identifies the best technicians for device maintenance, leading to improved patient safety and care. In addition, healthcare providers save on the maintenance expense related to critical, costly devices.

Accounts Payable Operations (APO), an enhancement to Source to Pay Operations, is now generally available as part of the Vancouver release. APO, part of ServiceNow’s Finance and Supply Chain Workflows, automates the accounts payable process, allowing teams to digitize the invoice receipt, reconciliation and payment process, which can positively impact cash flow as well as supplier relationships. With APO, customers reduce their typical manual processes costs (~$16 per invoice) by up to 80% with automation from ServiceNow.

Accelerating talent transformation with AI

The growing skills shortage and employee demand for continuous learning is pressuring businesses and HR leaders to rethink the way they train and develop talent. Seventy-seven percent of employers report difficultly in filling roles—the biggest skills gap in 17 years.4

To help leaders better meet the needs of their workforce while optimizing for the future of work, Employee Growth and Development (EGD) is generally available today. ESG uses AI to collect, validate, and continuously update employee skills data, giving leaders greater visibility and insight into workforce capabilities so they can make smarter talent decisions that fuel business growth.

New in ServiceNow’s Vancouver release, managers can create customized and trackable growth plans for employees that align skills development to career ambitions. Employees can define career aspirations, explore career options, and self-drive career progression through guided actions. AI-powered recommendations and proactive prompts foster more informed career conversations between managers and employees and empower employees to take ownership of their career development all from a single, career hub.

As a part of the Vancouver release, ServiceNow also launched Now Assist for ITSM, CSM, HRSD, and Creator to embed generative AI across all workflows on the Now Platform. With this update, every customer can accelerate productivity, improve experiences, and increase agility across every business function through the power of generative AI.

Availability: The Now Platform Vancouver release is generally available today.

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60K% P2Pinfect Malware Traffic Increase In The Last 3 Weeks, China Seeing Highest Number of Botnet Compromises: Cado Security

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 20, 2023 by itnerd

Cado Security discovered P2Pinfect, a novel peer-to-peer botnet targeting servers hosting publicly-accessible instances of Redis. At that time, it was clear that the malware was under active development, and the botnet was in its infancy. 

Since then, Cado has closely followed the proliferation of this malware, noting a sharp increase in initial access events attributable to P2Pinfect. The malware’s developers appear to be iterating on the capabilities of deployed payloads, releasing new variants with incremental updates at an extremely frequent rate. 

Cado Security has published a new blog analyzing the botnet itself, which has grown exponentially since the malware’s discovery and covering the new capabilities of P2Pinfect Linux variants. At this time, Cado researchers have analyzed four variants of P2Pinfect payloads. 

Cado researchers have witnessed the following:

  • A 60,216.7% or a 600x increase in P2Pinfect traffic since August 28, 2023. 
  • A 12.3% increase in traffic occurred in just the week before this.
  • The highest concentration of compromises are seen in China.
  • East Asian & US Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) leveraged as P2Pinfect peers.

You can read the details here.

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ServiceNow launches Now Assist for ITSM, CSM, HRSD, and Creator to embed generative AI across all workflows on the Now Platform

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 20, 2023 by itnerd

ServiceNow has announced a major Now Platform expansion with the Now Assist family of solutions. Available in the Now Platform Vancouver release, Now Assist for IT Service Management (ITSM), Customer Service Management (CSM), HR Service Delivery (HRSD), and Creator embed the power of generative AI across all workflows on the Now Platform to accelerate productivity, improve experiences, and increase agility for customers. New features within Now Assist are powered by a domain specific ServiceNow large language model (Now LLM), built for the enterprise and optimized for accuracy and data privacy.

Delivering enterprise-grade generative AI across every workflow

According to Goldman Sachs, generative AI will lift human productivity, adding ~$7 trillion to global GDP in the next decade1. The Now Platform operationalizes generative AI to drive growth and reduce costs for every customer across every business function with enterprise-grade AI supported by the highest levels of digital trust and privacy. Now Assist is woven into all processes and workflows to optimize performance and is fully compliant with all ServiceNow controls for ethical and responsible development and use.

All aspects of Now Assist incorporate generative AI features, such as case, incident, and agent chat summarization, virtual agent, and search, that can be applied to a broad range of scenarios and functions, so every persona from employees to agents to developers can harness the power of generative AI. This foundational approach allows enterprises to bring the power of generative AI to any department and expand to other parts of the business quickly and easily.

  • Now Assist for ITSM empowers enterprise IT leaders to take control of their IT experience, dramatically improving agent productivity and the employee experience with faster resolutions. With summaries of incident history and live Virtual Agent interaction designed to deliver complete answers instead of search results, agents can resolve issues and requests faster without needing to ask users to repeat themselves. Now Assist for ITSM can also create contextual summaries of incidents and resolution notes, which helps organizations implement incident management best practices and resolve more incidents in less time.
  • Now Assist for CSM streamlines the customer service process from beginning to end, leading to higher agent productivity, cost savings, and an improved customer experience. By rapidly generating summaries for cases and chats, Now Assist for CSM reduces manual work and allows agents to resolve customer issues faster. Customers also benefit from an improved self-service experience, with access to resources that help them find answers fast, leading to higher case deflection and cost reduction.
  • Now Assist for HR helps HR leaders drive productivity and operational efficiency, reduces redundant, manual tasks for HR teams, and gets employees the answers they need quickly with little disruption to their day. HR managers can handle issues from payroll discrepancies to paperwork changes without needing to sift through loads of information by reviewing instant summaries of case topics, previous history from live chat and Virtual Agent interactions, as well as previous resolutions and actions taken. This gives HR teams the context they need to solve problems quickly and confidently.
  • Now Assist for Creator helps development teams create and scale apps more quickly on the Now Platform. Now Assist for Creator includes the general availability of text-to-code, which converts natural language text prompts into executable code for the ServiceNow Platform. Additionally, code completion allows developers to start typing a line of code and quickly see code completion recommendations. Now Assist for Creator is trained on code from ServiceNow engineering, so it provides code that is higher quality, more scalable, and more secure than any other code generation technology.

AI embedded in the DNA of the Now Platform

ServiceNow’s generative AI strategy provides customers with broad and secure LLM support, through either general purpose LLMs or ServiceNow-developed models. General-purpose LLMs provide customer flexibility and currently include access to Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service LLM and OpenAI API. Built into the ServiceNow platform, domain-specific LLMs are designed specifically for ServiceNow’s workflows, use cases, and processes, and are tailored to agents, employees, customers, and IT administrators who use ServiceNow. This allows for an excellent end-user experience, unprecedented time-to-market, and the highest levels of transparency and governance.

For example, features within Now Assist for Search are powered by a ServiceNow fine-tuned LLM based on the NVIDIA NeMo framework and served using NVIDIA Triton Inference Server software, both part of the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform. These features bring to market new capabilities built from the ServiceNow and NVIDIA partnership announced in May.

Pricing and availabilityWith the launch of Now Assist, ServiceNow also rolled out its generative AI pricing packages. These new SKUs allow customers to get started with Now Assist quickly and easily through pricing models built on a number of factors including value, flexibility, and simplicity. Details about generative AI pricing can be found here.All generative AI innovations announced today are part of ServiceNow’s Now Platform Vancouver release and will be generally available in the ServiceNow Store on Sept. 29 to all customers. Information about additional Vancouver innovations can be found here.

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Patient-led Innovations in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Take the Prize in Takeda Canada’s Digital Health Challenge

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 20, 2023 by itnerd

Takeda Canada Inc. has announced two winners of the 2023 Takeda Canada Digital Health Innovation Challenge, a competition to identify and support innovative digital health solutions to improve patient outcomes and experiences.

This year’s challenge winners are two patient-led organizations with disruptive digital solutions aimed at improving the patient journey in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), the most common forms being Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease. The two companies are IBDrelief and Ayble Health.

Ayble Health is an all-in-one virtual gastroenterology platform that helps digestive disease patients, including those with inflammatory bowel disease, find long-term relief and control over their symptoms. Ayble developed the largest GI behavioral health database in the world to build a personalized nutrition and behavioral health program for every patient, supported by a licensed coaching team. Ayble’s best-in-class outcomes are backed by 14 peer-reviewed studies developed in partnership with Northwestern University, Harvard Medical School, Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic.

IBDrelief is a social enterprise that provides vital support and information to people living with IBD, their families, and the medical industry to help improve people’s quality of life. Their education platform IBDmate, allows healthcare teams to ‘prescribe’ educational videos to patients and their families prior to and after appointments. Developed in conjunction with the Cambridge University Hospital (CUH) paediatric IBD team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, IBDmate has shown a positive impact on patients and the hospital’s IBD service through increased knowledge, accessibility, medication adherence, and trust in information.

The winners of the challenge will receive a $10,000 CAD cash prize and the opportunity to participate in Plug and Play Alberta’s Fall 2023 Accelerator Program, with the potential to further explore funding from Takeda Canada to build a proof-of-concept project. For more details and full challenge terms and conditions visit: https://takeda.info/ca-innovationchallenge.

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Guest Post: 80% of education providers hit with ransomware last year, Biden administration responds

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 20, 2023 by itnerd

As the 2023 academic year kicks off, schools across the globe are facing an escalating cybersecurity crisis, the Atlas VPN team reports. 

Data shows the education sector is the most targeted industry by cybercriminals, primarily motivated by the high percentage of schools choosing to pay the ransom.

A recent Sophos survey of 3,000 IT and cybersecurity leaders across 14 countries, including 400 from the education sector, conducted in January-March 2023, reveals that 80% of lower education providers and 79% of higher education institutions reported ransomware attacks in the last year. 

Construction (71%), the federal government (70%), and media & entertainment (70%) are also within the top five most targeted industries by ransomware attacks, but at a notably lower rate than educational establishments.

The vulnerability landscape

The survey identifies compromised credentials and exploited vulnerabilities as the top root causes of ransomware attacks in education. 

In lower education, 36% of attacks originated from compromised credentials, while in higher education, 40% were due to exploited vulnerabilities. 

These figures indicate a need for robust cybersecurity measures and employee training in educational institutions.

Financial and operational costs

While the immediate financial cost of a ransomware attack is evident, the recovery from the attack also includes the cost of system downtime, loss of productivity, and reputational damage. 

The mean cost to recover from ransomware attacks across all sectors is estimated at $1.82 million, an increase from the $1.4 million in 2022.

In lower education, the recovery costs have remained steady at around $1.59 million in 2023 and 2022. 

Recovery costs in higher education have decreased significantly from the $1.42 million reported last year to just over $1 million in 2023.

Governmental interventions

Meanwhile, On August 7, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration released a statement outlining new efforts to strengthen America’s K-12 schools’ cybersecurity. 

The new initiatives aim to provide up to $200 million over three years to bolster cyber defenses in K-12 schools. 

A Government Coordinating Council will also be established to facilitate communication between federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial education leaders to enhance US schools’ cyber defenses and resilience.

To read the full report, head over to:
https://atlasvpn.com/blog/80-of-education-providers-hit-with-ransomware-last-year-biden-administration-responds 

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