Content by Scott Ferguson

Profiles in Leadership: Hadas Cassorla of M1 Finance

Scott Ferguson  •  October 5, 2021

Hadas Cassorla, who considers herself a "recovering" attorney, has been building a culture of security at large firms and startups for some time. Here's how the current CISO of M1 Finance does it.

CISA Director: Attackers Targeted Port of Houston

Scott Ferguson  •  September 24, 2021

During testimony before a U.S. Senate committee hearing Thursday, CISA Director Jen Easterly told lawmakers that a recent joint alert issued by her agency, the FBI and the Coast Guard Cyber Command stemmed from an attempted attack against the Port of Houston in August.

Senators Debate Cyber Rules for US Critical Infrastructure

Scott Ferguson  •  September 23, 2021

As the Senate Homeland Security Committee considers new cyber rules and regulations for U.S. critical infrastructure, lawmakers heard testimony from CISA's Jen Easterly and National Cyber Director Chris Inglis on Thursday in support of these measures, which include updates to FISMA.

Russian-Linked Group Using Secondary Backdoor Against Targets

Scott Ferguson  •  September 22, 2021

A Russian-linked group known as Turla has been deploying a secondary backdoor against numerous targets to maintain persistence within compromised devices even after the primary malware has been discovered and removed, Cisco Talos report. Victims include U.S., German and Afghan organizations.

FBI Director Questioned Over Kaseya Decryption Key

Scott Ferguson  •  September 21, 2021

FBI Director Christopher Wray faced questions during a Senate hearing Tuesday concerning a published report that the bureau for almost three weeks withheld a decryption key that agents obtained from the ransomware gang that targeted software firm Kaseya.

Ransomware Reportedly Hits Iowa Farm Services Cooperative

Scott Ferguson , Doug Olenick  •  September 20, 2021

NEW Cooperative, an Iowa-based farm services cooperative, has reportedly been targeted by the BlackMatter ransomware gang, demanding a $5.9 million payment from the organization, according to security researchers and published reports. The cooperative is working with law enforcement agencies.

CISA Must Update Critical Infrastructure Protection Plans

Scott Ferguson  •  September 20, 2021

CISA must update its plans to improve the security - both physical and cyber - within the nation's critical infrastructure, according to a report that specifically looked at issues related to the country's dams and levees. Attacks targeting critical infrastructure have raised the issue.

US Warns Nation-State Groups May Exploit Flaw in Zoho Tool

Scott Ferguson  •  September 17, 2021

CISA, the FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command warn users of Zoho Corp.'s single sign-on and password management tool to patch for a vulnerability that nation-state groups may look to exploit. Attackers could use the bug to compromise credentials and exfiltrate data from Active Directory.

Republican Governors Association Targeted in Exchange Attacks

Scott Ferguson  •  September 16, 2021

The Republican Governors Association was one of several U.S. organizations targeted in March when a nation-state group took advantage of vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange email servers, according to a breach notification letter filed with Maine authorities. It appears some PII was exposed.

House Committees Seek to Spend Millions on Cybersecurity

Scott Ferguson  •  September 15, 2021

A pair of House committees this week said they want to spend additional millions on cybersecurity by injecting funds into CISA and the FTC, as part of the debate over the Biden administration's $3.5 trillion budget proposal for 2022. Part of the money would help fulfill Biden's executive order.

Massachusetts Attorney General Probing T-Mobile Breach

Scott Ferguson  •  September 14, 2021

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey says her office is probing the data breach at T-Mobile that exposed the personal information of 54 million people, including current, former and prospective customers of the carrier. The Federal Communications Commission is also investigating the incident.

House Bill Seeks to Insulate CISA Director From Politics

Scott Ferguson  •  September 13, 2021

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to better insulate the director of CISA from political pressure by giving the role a defined five-year term that could keep the agency's leader in place even when presidential administrations change. Currently, the position of CISA director lacks a set term.

SolarWinds Attack Spurring Additional Federal Investigations

Scott Ferguson  •  September 10, 2021

Nine months after discover of the attack that targeted SolarWinds and clients of its network monitoring tool, the incident continues to spur investigations into what happened. The SEC is reportedly probing those businesses involved, and lawmakers want answers about the breach of DOJ emails.

National Cyber Director Sees Ransomware As Continuing Threat

Scott Ferguson  •  September 9, 2021

Despite a recent slowdown in incidents and some cybercriminals claiming they have stopped or abandoned ransomware attacks, National Cyber Director Chris Inglis says it's "too soon to tell," if the behavior of these groups has changed permanently or if they are waiting for an opportunity to return.

White House Pushing Federal Agencies Toward 'Zero Trust'

Scott Ferguson  •  September 8, 2021

The White House is preparing executive branch agencies to adopt "zero trust" network architectures by 2024, with CISA and the OMB overseeing the creation of technology road maps that departments must follow. This is a major component of President Biden's cybersecurity executive order.