Security News

In an open letter, the White House this week urged corporate executives and business leaders to take the appropriate measures to protect their organizations against ransomware attacks, only days after meat-packaging giant JBS fell victim to such an attack. The memo, signed by Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, mentions the recent increase in the number of ransomware incidents, as well as the Biden administration's response to such attacks targeting government and private sector organizations.

In light of the ransomware attacks hitting high-profile targets such as the Colonial Pipeline and JBS, the White House has issued an open letter to private sector companies, urging them to do their part to stymie the threat. The Federal Government is working with partners around the world to disrupt and deter ransomware actors, by making an effort to disrupt ransomware networks, working with international partners to hold countries that harbor ransomware actors accountable, developing policies towards ransom payments and enabling rapid tracing and interdiction of virtual currency proceeds, noted Anne Neuberger, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology.

A new White House memo to business leaders underscores the threat of ransomware and offers advice on how to protect their companies. Following recent cyberattacks against key operations in the U.S., the White House is pushing companies to take ransomware seriously and beef up their defenses against it.

The White House has urged business leaders and corporate executives to take ransomware attacks seriously in a letter issued by Anne Neuberger, the National Security Council's chief cybersecurity adviser. "The most important takeaway from the recent spate of ransomware attacks on U.S., Irish, German and other organizations around the world is that companies that view ransomware as a threat to their core business operations rather than a simple risk of data theft will react and recover more effectively," Neuberger said.

Australian police are investigating a ransomware attack at the facilities of JBS Foods - one of the largest producers of meat in the world - as the White House fingers Russia-based cybercriminals. The attack has forced the Brazilian-owned business, which operates 47 facilities across Australia, with others located in Brazil, the US, and Canada, to stop production in some units.

After members of Congress criticized as "Disorganized" the U.S. response to a massive breach of government departments and private corporations discovered late last year, the White House announced Wednesday that a senior national security official had been leading the effort since the first day of the Biden administration. Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, was in charge of remediating the hack, identifying issues with the federal government's response and launching a study aimed at preventing similar incidents, the White House said.

Hidden messages, features or jokes in apps and websites are commonly known in hacker jargon as easter eggs, because they're supposed to be found and enjoyed, but they're not supposed to be immediately obvious. One of the most famous easter eggs in commercial software history - if not the most complex - was the hidden flight simulator in Microsoft Excel 97.

Because of the CISA's support of a fair election process, the White House is expected to call for Krebs' resignation, according to a Reuters report, citing sources close to the CISA chief. Upon hearing the news, lawmakers and other observers took to Twitter and to praise the job Krebs has done as CISA director, nothing how he put aside partisanship to work for a common goal to protect U.S. cybersecurity infrastructure and the election process.

The phishing emails led to malicious websites that used the same HTML and CSS found in actual White House sites, says email security provider INKY. Phishing emails and their associated websites often impersonate well-known organizations, brands, businesses, and other familiar subjects to try to trap potential victims. A series of recent phishing emails examined by INKY targeted people curious or anxious about COVID-19 by impersonating the White House and some in the administration.

Hackers have compromised the Department of Defense agency in charge of securing and managing communications for the White House, leaking personally identifiable information of employees and leading to concerns over the safety of the communications of top-level U.S. officials in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. Reuters first reported the data breach at the Defense Information Systems Agency, part of the DoD, on Friday, citing letters seen by the news outlet that were sent to people allegedly affected by the breach.