How to Protect Manufacturing From Ransomware

🚨 New Cybersecurity Advisory: #StopRansomware: Black Basta 🚨 I highly recommend checking out the latest Cybersecurity Advisory, which was co-authored by CISA, the FBI, HHS, and MS-ISAC. This detailed report on the Black Basta ransomware variant provides critical insights for network defenders. Over the last two years, the Black Basta Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) operation has targeted over 500 private industry and critical infrastructure entities in North America, Europe, and Australia. Here are some key takeaways: 🔹 Proactive Measures: Implement phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA) and ensure your systems are updated with the latest patches to mitigate vulnerabilities. 🔹 Awareness Training: Regularly train users to recognize and report phishing attempts. User vigilance is crucial in preventing initial access by threat actors. 🔹 Advanced Threat Detection: Utilize continuous monitoring and leverage threat intelligence to swiftly detect and respond to potential compromises. 🔹 Lateral Movement Tools: Be aware that Black Basta affiliates use tools like BITSAdmin and Cobalt Strike for lateral movement. Ensure proper network segmentation and Implement controls to detect and block these tools. 🔹 Backup and Recovery: Maintain regular backups of critical systems and configurations to ensure quick recovery in the event of an attack. Stay informed and prepared to defend against ransomware threats. Build a Zero Trust Architecture to protect systems against such attacks. Read the full advisory for more detailed recommendations and action steps at CISA's website: https://lnkd.in/eGbsGksM #cybersecurity #Ransomware #ZeroTrust #networksecurity #technology

ONE BYTE AND YOU'RE OUT: This ransomware embodies stealth, speed, and double extortion. Dire Wolf is tearing through the tech and manufacturing sectors like it's got a grudge against supply chains. Dire Wolf is written in Go—cross-platform, hard to detect, and apparently fluent in “make antivirus cry.” It uses UPX packing to thwart static analysis and includes logic to prevent multiple infections & evade detection via mutex checks and self-deletion routines. Once it lands, it chokes Windows logging, terminates hundreds of services (including AV and recovery tools), nukes shadow copies, and wipes logs before encrypting files. The ransom note is where the Dire Wolf gets personal. It contains a victim-specific room ID and credentials for a chat portal—and offers proof of exfiltration reinforcing the “tailored negotiation” angle. It’s an unnervingly professional modus operandi: don’t pay, and your data hits the web in a month. RECOMMENDATIONS / PREVENTION TIPS: * Immutable backups & segmented recovery workflows: Keep air-gapped or immutably stored backups, and ensure recovery processes cannot be disrupted by the malware. These backups are your best bear spray post-attack. * Tabletop testing + red-teaming: Simulate a ransomware breach involving Go-based, UPX-packed malware. Does your detection stack and IR playbook identify and stop behavior? If not, you've got a growing problem at the door. * Endpoint hardening & behavior monitoring: Deploy EDR/XDR tools to flag mutex checks, mass service terminations, log manipulations, and shadow-copy deletions. These are forewarning signs of Dire Wolf-style activity. https://lnkd.in/gD5VFfTA #AUGURYIT

I'm not a cyber guy. But I've seen enough manufacturing plants get hammered by ransomware recently to know that it's something we all could pay more attention to. For instance: > 71% of manufacturing attacks now deliver ransomware > Average recovery time: 277 days > Revenue hit for affected small plants: 10% annually But here's the thing, most of these incidents are preventable with the right metrics in place. Here's my take on some KPIs that could help move the needle: Prevention > Patch compliance rate (≥95% in ≤14 days) > MFA coverage (100%) > Segmentation score (≥90%) Detection > Mean time to detect (<1 hour for critical lines) > Anomaly monitoring coverage (>90%) Response > Mean time to contain (<30 min) > Playbook adherence (100%) Recovery > Mean time to restore production (<4 hours) > Backup integrity (99%) Human Factor > Phishing click rate (<3%) > Training completion (100%) The average manufacturing cyberattack costs $2.8 million and 23 days of downtime. Strong cyber-resilience isn't about checking compliance boxes, it's about measuring what matters to prevent, detect, and recover from attacks. Your plant's uptime depends on it. Cyber guys: Does this track, and what KPIs are you tracking?