Businesses face myriad cyber security risks, from phishing to unauthorized access of proprietary information. While restricting access rights and maintaining strict security measures can help, potential insider threats are always a risk. Organizations must effectively monitor for signs of insider threats to prevent financial loss or compromising critical assets.

In April 2023, Researchers uncovered a new ransomware actor named RA Group, demonstrating a connection to the Babuk ransomware through the utilization of leaked source code. Following the full disclosure of Babuk’s ransomware source code by an alleged group member in September 2021, various ransomware families have emerged, incorporating this leaked code into their attacks.

Responsible for a number of infamous ‘big game hunter’ ransomware attacks and believed active since at least 2019, the ransomware threat group dubbed ‘CL0P‘ is thought to be a Russian-language cybercriminal gang and have been widely reported as associated with, or their malware adopted by, other cybercriminal groups including ‘FIN11’, a part of the larger financially-motivated ‘TA505’ group, and ‘UNC2546’.

Cyber threats against critical infrastructure – such as energy and transportation networks – remain pervasive as ever, with 2023 witnessing an astounding 420 million such attacks in total. That’s the bad news. The good news is that critical infrastructure is set to become more secure, at least in the European Union, thanks to the NIS 2 Directive (also known as E.U. Directive 2022/2055).

Organizations must navigate myriad security threats. While many cyber threats come from malicious actors outside the organization, insider threats can be even more devastating to a business. Insider threat prevention should be a top priority for security teams. But what are these cyber attacks, and what do they teach us about how to protect critical assets? Here, we examine several real-world examples of insider threats at major organizations and what those organizations did to remediate the threat.

Suppose someone left their home, got in their car, and drove to the grocery store. Much like data packets that travel over Internet highways, the car will use various pathways to reach its destination; however, once the car gets to the store, a question remains: what happened between the generating point and the destination? If nothing happened, the driver (our data) traveled safely and without incident.

Incorporating remote work among companies has been one of the developments in recent years. In fact, a staggering 98% of employees express their desire to have this kind of dynamic in their jobs. The shift is here to stay as more and more organizations are adopting it as part of their work culture because of its many advantages. This integration is essential as employers move forward with their business continuity plans.

As the cybersecurity landscape continually evolves, SOCs must quickly identify, evaluate, and counteract cyberattacks. In the heat of a security investigation or incident response, achieving rapid visibility and rich contextual insights about the attack are not merely advantageous, but essential.