Ransomware attacks have advanced from employing basic encryption strategies to encompassing multifaceted maneuvers.

These exercises not only involve encrypting data for ransom, but also extend to the public shaming of victims on dedicated websites and attempts to sell the compromised data on the dark web, according to David Strom (pictured), senior cybersecurity reporter at SiliconANGLE Media Inc. He further pointed to the escalating sophistication and audacity of ransomware actors in exploiting vulnerabilities.

“We even have a case this summer where the ransomware actor filed an SEC compliance disclosure,” Strom said. “It said that their victim hadn’t disclosed that they had been breached. It’s out of control.”

Strom spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Dave Vellante at the Cyber Resiliency Summit, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the intricate relationship between data protection, specifically backup and recovery, and the broader realm of cybersecurity. (* Disclosure below.)

Blended threats

Careful scrutiny is needed when evaluating products claiming to be pioneers in the zero-trust space, according to Strom. While the narrative around zero trust is gaining traction, many enterprises are yet to implement adaptive security controls effectively.

“I think they should very carefully evaluate any product that claims to be the first or the only in this space. Because most of the security tenants are things that we’ve been talking about for decades,” Strom said. “There’s a lot of vendors that have jumped on the zero-Trust bandwagon, and we still don’t have enterprises that are doing adaptive security control.”

Air gaps provide a safeguard for crucial computer systems or data, shielding it from various potential threats, Strom explained. Despite the perceived security of air gaps, they can be breached through methods, such as the use of USB thumb drives, highlighting the need for a holistic security approach beyond relying solely on air gaps.

“I think people are underestimating the level of expertise of the threat actors and hackers; there’s a lot more blended threats. As I mentioned with ransomware, the same is true with denial of service attacks, where they’re combining that with all sorts of other techniques,” Strom said. “There are better ways to hide in plain sight in infrastructure so that the detection tools fail at finding the malware and leave them resident sometimes for months at a time. The situation is getting more complicated.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Cyber Resiliency Summit:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the “Cyber Resiliency Summit.” Neither Dell Technologies Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE