Our Insights
Providing you the latest industry-specific news and insights.
Risky Business: Securing a Remote Workforce Comes with Its Challenges – but Also Solutions
In the past year, businesses around the world have had to fundamentally transform how they work and communicate. And not that work from home is new, but it’s certainly never been done at the current scale. To maintain productivity, organizations have…
Read moreDon’t Drink from That! Gootloader Watering Hole Leads to REvil Attack
By Arete Forensics Team REvil, more commonly referred to as Sodinokibi, is one of the most prolific ransomware threat groups currently active in the cyber extortion space. In the past year alone, Arete has responded to countless incidents where…
Read moreDear Ramey: Will I Be Hacked Again?
ANSWERING BURNING QUESTIONS FROM VICTIMS OF CYBER EVENTS DEAR RAMEY: My organization was hacked, and ransomware encrypted our files. We have no interest in paying the ransom because we don’t want to encourage malicious activity. Do we have any…
Read moreDarkside Ransomware: Caviar Taste on Your Big-Game Budget
By Arete Cyber Threat Intelligence Team EXECUTIVE SUMMARY By all appearances, the proprietors of Darkside ransomware mean business. Big business. With their sights set on organizations with US$4M+ in revenue, they’re all about high-value,…
Read moreSix Decrees of Kevin Baker: Top Tips to Improve Cybersecurity Today
When I work with clients, I mention a good many things they can do to improve their security. Sometimes I’ll advise on an area I think they need to understand about their company. Sometimes I’ll suggest implementing specific security controls. Some…
Read moreGood Europol Hunting: How Do You Like Them Apples, Emotet?
On January 27, 2021, Europol announced that it had led a coordinated takedown of the Emotet infrastructure in collaboration with law enforcement authorities in the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Lithuania,…
Read moreCybersecurity Trends: What We Saw in 2020, What We Expect to See in 2021
Where change seems a constant, perhaps the biggest and most surprising cybersecurity issue of 2020 was a lack of change. But before we get to that, let’s look at some other key cybersecurity trends. A CONTINUED RISE IN RANSOMWARE ATTACKS Kidnapping…
Read moreEgregor: The Ghost of Soviet Bears Past Haunts On
By Adam Brown and Harold Rodriguez, Arete Cyber Threat Intelligence Team Ransomware variants come. Ransomware variants go. And while Egregor may have only recently surfaced, it is by no means a fly-by-night operation. In fact, one could argue that…
Read moreDear Ramey: On Prosecuting Cybercriminals
ANSWERING BURNING QUESTIONS FROM VICTIMS OF CYBER EVENTS DEAR RAMEY: I’ve read a lot about the recent events in cybersecurity involving supply chain breaches, ransomware attacks, and theft of sensitive information from both large and small…
Read moreWastedLocker Ransomware Insights
BACKGROUND On the December 5th, 2019 the U.S. Department of Justice announced indictments against 17 individuals including 2 Russian nationals Maksim Yakubets and Igor Turashev that were the primary ring-leaders of the Russian hacking group known as…
Read moreThe Road Back: Recovery from a Malware Attack in the Long Term
Arete Incident Response is currently answering the call of duty for about 60 companies per month who have experienced malware intrusions. These are mostly ransomware or business email compromise attacks. Arete’s primary goal is to restore what was…
Read moreRansomware Decryptors for a (varying) fee
Ransomware attacks wreak havoc on business operations. Destroying recovery options, instilling fear and panic, and most often creating high levels of stress for IT staff, owners, and operators. A simple, but often costly fix is to just pay the…
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