Page 96 - Cyber Defense eMagazine August 2023

MOVEit's Ransomware Attack Highlights the

State of Cybersecurity

By Ben Smith, Field Chief Technology Officer, NetWitness

Vulnerability is a four-letter word in the world of cybersecurity, as one leading business application vendor
learned the hard way in May. The company’s managed file transfer (MFT) software, MOVEit, experienced
a sizable attack orchestrated by the Russian ransomware group, CL0P.

According to the victimized company, the gap in security had the potential to allow unauthorized users
access and privileges to the software, and the supply chain attack against MOVEit impacted many of its
own downstream customers, including other companies in the payroll services and identity theft verticals,
as well as several government agencies. In recent years, supply chain attacks have become more
prevalent as threat actors have evolved to extract even more value from personal data, especially when
80% of companies disrupted by ransomware wound up paying the ransom. This is a profitable exercise,
because after all, cybercrime is a business and has its own business models.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – August 2023 Edition 96
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