An estimated 143 million U.S. consumers could be impacted by the most recent mega breach, this time, hitting Equifax. By undertaking this breach, which happened between mid-May and July 2017, cybercriminals gained access to Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver's license numbers among other information.
As we went to press with this edition, news of this massive plundering was just breaking. Adding to the incident's awestriking nature was the dubious timing of three senior Equifax executives reportedly selling millions of dollars in company stocks just three days after the company discovered the breach on July 29.
And while the sheer scale of this breach is leaving many in the information security industry reeling and average consumers likely wondering if they should be getting brand-spanking-new Social Security numbers, other attacks on organizations' data just keep on coming. Indeed, it seems many cybersecurity executives still are turning a great deal of their attention to attempting to keep their informational assets from being held hostage by cybercriminals.
Ransomware, given the legion of recent incidents that still see some resulting nice payouts for thieves, is going nowhere fast. This is why we dedicated this entire issue to this quite persistent and growingly acute problem for many organizations.
And we're not the only ones trying to amass information, insight and guidance in one handy edition. Just recently, the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) at the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) worked with myriad information security companies to provide companies with a ransomware recovery guide.
Comprised of three volumes that can be used by pros from executive leaders to IT professionals, the guide is all about helping organizations hit by ransomware not only recover their data, but also manage overall cybersecurity risks to their infrastructures. Various experts recently told SC Media that being standards-based, the offering is strong in offering up to corporations detailed and thoughtful strategies that help them recover from attacks, but also aid them in strengthening their overall security postures, making sound investments in solutions and services and establishing sound methods to ensure all departments are supporting the same goals.
As we share in the following pages, ransomware is one of the seeming top scourges for many information security professionals. Yet, as news of various and sundry attacks and mega breaches continue breaking, it unfortunately is just one menace bedeviling infosec professionals like you. We here at SC Media will continue to help support you, providing timely news, advice from leading experts, practical reviews, online and live events, and still other informational offerings in the works.
