Cyber Security News & Trends – 12-07-18

This week SonicWall has taken to the airwaves as CEO Bill Conner is profiled by KRLD Radio, and in industry news, more new breaches revealed but impacted companies like Quora are saying that Marriott International has it far worse.

SonicWall Spotlight

New Law Aids SMBs in Combating Cybersecurity Risks – The Channel Pro Network

• SonicWall CEO Bill Conner calls SMBs the “foundation of the U.S. economy” in this update about the recently enacted NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act.

CRN's 2018 Products of the Year – CRN

• The SonicWall Capture Cloud Platform was announced as a finalist in CRN's 2018 Products of the Year in the security-cloud category.

CEO Spotlight: Bill Conner, CEO, SonicWall – KRLD Radio (US)

• SonicWall CEO Bill Conner is featured on KRLD’s CEO Spotlight radio segment discussing SonicWall’s holiday cyber threat data.

Cyber Security News

Cyber-espionage group uses Chrome extension to infect victims – ZD Net

• Netscout researchers have released a report revealing details of a nation-state-backed hacking group’s efforts to target the academic sector by pushing a malicious Google Chrome extension through a spear-phishing email campaign.

DHS Says SamSam Ransomware is Targeting Critical Infrastructure Entities – Security Week

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issue an alert on activity related to SamSam, the malware which has supposedly cost private enterprises and organizations over $5.9 million in the last two years.

U.S. Financial Firms to Further Increase Cybersecurity Spending – Bloomberg

• U.S. banks and other financial firms are projecting higher spending on cybersecurity as they face bigger threats and more attacks.

Marriott looking at China in data breach: report – The Hill

• Investigators looking into the recent Marriott breach, which saw personal data belonging to over 500 million hotel guests exposed, are looking to China as the most likely source of the attack.

Quora reports data breach affecting 100 million users – Phys Org

• Quora has notified users of a data breach involving the email addresses and encrypted passwords of about 100 million users. The question-and-answer website is downplaying the incident, claiming that it “is nothing like” the sustained breach suffered by Marriott International over the last four years.

Why Cyber Monday Is Just the Beginning of the Festive Hacking Season – ZDNet

• Cyberattacks reach a peak around the holiday season but ZDNet argue that understaffing over Christmas leaves many companies open to further attacks.

Huawei Said to Plan $2 Billion Cybersecurity Reboot – Industry Week

• Small companies often do not have the resources to be able to meet the strictest cybersecurity standards. Two academics argue that they should not be financially penalized in the same way as larger corporations can be.

In Case You Missed It

• Cloud Security: Making the Invisible … Visible - Beau Beamesderfer
• 3 Ways to Prevent Cryptominers from Stealing Your Processing Power – Brook Chelmo
• SonicWall Wins Gold and Silver in Best in Biz Awards 2018 – Nicole Landfield
• Historic Black Friday, Cyber Monday Threat Data Prepares Businesses, Shoppers for Holiday Cyberattacks – Scott Grebe
• October 2018 Cyber Threat Data: Web App Attacks, Ransomware Continue Upward Trend – John Lynch