CYBER24

As the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, there are still concerns about people who do not get the vaccine and the potential they have to spread illness. One proposed way to get the vaccinated public back to normal life is by using a vaccine passport. The idea is simple: prove you've been vaccinated and you can travel, shop and recreate without any concerns. But for governments, healthcare providers and businesses, adding new, sensitive data comes with privacy and cybersecurity concerns. In this episode, we discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of vaccine passports.

Guest Expert
Rob Shavell, CEO and Co-founder of Abine/DeleteMe

For years, cybercriminals have operated in a sweet spot. They have targeted businesses with the resources to pay the ransom but not the kind that has hurt the public at large. Over the past few months that seems to be changing. The Colonial pipeline attack sent gas prices skyrocketing and had people filling plastic bags with gasoline. The hack of JBS Meat caused food prices to increase. It begs the question: are hackers expanding their scope of the attack and will it finally put cybersecurity front and center for the general public?

Guest Expert:
Greg Johnson, Webcheck

Ransomware had been a growing issue for businesses for the past several years, growing exponentially in the past two years, particularly as the world made an abrupt shift to remote work during the pandemic.

As attacks become more prolific, more businesses countered by improving mothering security, most notably by having back-ups to allow them to get back online quickly.

But in a game of chess, every move triggers a counterattack and hackers have responded. It’s called a double-extortion scheme that is an elevated version of ransomware designed to ensure the hackers maintain leverage over their victims, whether they have a backup or not.

Panelists

Mike Hussey, Utah Department of Technology Services

A mind-boggling ransom payment paid by one of the largest me producers in the world after getting hacked. Plus we’ll talk about what the FBI’s recommendation is to businesses that have been hacked and why it wants to be involved whether you pay the ransom or not.

Guest Expert: 
Anthony Booyse, Sophos

Just weeks after the U.S. faced spikes in gas prices from the cyberattack on a critical energy pipeline, the world's largest meat supplier has also been targeted by Russian hackers. Meanwhile, Chinese hackers breached the New York subway system in April and the U.S. Energy Secretary says foreign adversaries are capable of shutting down the energy grid. In this episode of CYBER24, presented by VLCM, we discuss federal policies, private sector responses and debate when, if ever, a tipping point is coming in our collective response to cyber warfare. 

Guest Expert: 
Matt Sorensen, Silicon Valley Bank

The Irish Health Department was hit with ransomware by a group known as Conti. Despite an initial demand for payment, the hackers changed tactics and provided the victims with a decryption key, allowing officials to work toward restoring normal service while still threatening to release data in order to collect funds. In this episode of the CYBER24 podcast, presented by VLCM, Marty Carpenter and Mike Hussey look at the hack and the FBI's warning that the same group has already hit more than a dozen US health systems. 

Thinking you won't get hit by malware attacks and phishing schemes leaves you at the mercy of hackers who could take businesses for hundreds of millions of dollars every year. We look at the threat and the steps you can take to protect yourself and your business.

Guest
Dan Schuyler, VLCM

A significant piece of U.S. energy infrastructure is hit by hackers and the ripple effect will impact all American's at the gas pump... but is this the wake-up call that will really make a difference?

Until these past few days, you had likely never heard of the Colonial Pipeline. It's a 5,500-mile system that moves 100 million gallons of fuel each day from Texas to New Jersey. (That's roughly 45% of the fuel consumed in that region.) The AP reported that this was a cyber extortion attempt by a group called DarkSide.

We discuss how the attack happened, the ripple effects in the economy and whether or not this will finally make businesses take the threat seriously.

Guest
Mike Hussey, Utah Dept. of Technology Services

According to one study, data breaches exposed 36 billion records in the first half of 2020. And another study indicates 86% of breaches were financially motivated. Cybersecurity is an issue making its way to the forefront nationally and in the private sector. In this episode of the CYBER24 podcast, presented by VLCM, former head of the Utah Dept. of Technology Services Mike Hussey and Utah Chief Information Security Officer Phil Bates look at what the US is doing, what role states play, and how the private sector is included and, sometimes, left on its own. 

Panelists

• Mike Hussey, director of services for DTS
• Phil Bates, Utah CISO

Hackers threaten all kinds of businesses and the various ways they can cause you problems are growing more numerous and sophisticated. In this episode of the CYBER24 podcast, presented by VLCM, we look at the most common types of cyberattacks and the simple steps you can take to protect yourself.