First observed in 2019 and advertised (Figure 1) as a 'Malware-as-a-Service' (MaaS) threat on various cybercriminal forums, Raccoon is an information stealer targeting victim credentials and cryptocurrency wallets. Seemingly favored by some threat actors due to its simplicity, the malware element of Raccoon omits advanced features, such as those used to evade detection, and instead focuses on the 'stealer' task in hand.

In our recent infographic we reported that almost 1 in 6 construction companies reported a ransomware attack in the past year so, yes, ransomware is a serious problem for construction companies. The question then becomes: why are construction and engineering companies being targeted with such frequency? For two reasons; first is a distributed workforce.

Ransomware has been a thorn in the side of cybersecurity teams for the past several years. As other security threats have come and gone, this insidious threat has been a constant challenge for every organization. This past year has proven to be especially profitable for ransomware operators, as major organizations like United Health Services, Orange and Acer have fallen victim to these attacks.

The ransomware campaign against the Colonial Pipeline highlights the dangers and real-life consequences of cyberattacks. If you want to understand how to use Splunk to find activity related to the DarkSide Ransomware, we highly recommend you first read “The DarkSide of the Ransomware Pipeline” from Splunk’s Security Strategist team. In short, according to the FBI, the actors behind this campaign are part of the “DarkSide” group.

Organizations today are challenged by an increased exposure to cyber threats. Attackers often target emerging technologies since the new technology is often ill-equipped to handle an attack. Moreover, the internet has become filled with malicious links, Trojans, and viruses.

DarkSide is a ransomware-as-a-service platform that made headlines on May 8, 2021, for targeting Colonial Pipeline, resulting in a shutdown of their pipeline operations. The DarkSide ransomware platform first appeared in August 2020, advertising that they would not target organizations in the education, government, medical, or non-profit sectors.

Over the weekend, the Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline was hit by an extensive ransomware attack that shut down its information technology (IT) and industrial operational technology (OT) systems. Simply put, an all-too-common ransomware event targeting IT systems encouraged a voluntary shutdown on the production side (OT) of the business to prevent further exposure. Colonial Pipeline is responsible for 45% of the gasoline, diesel fuel and natural gas transported from Texas to New Jersey.

Every career has defining moments. Most are spread out over years or even decades, but the cybersecurity world has had two career-defining moments just in the past year. It started with the global shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overnight, many organizations were forced to support employees working remotely. CISOs, like me, were expected to keep both our company and its employees safe in a completely unpredictable world.

Arguably the greatest threat to organisations in 2021 is ransomware. Ransomware attacks proliferated in 2020, increasing by 435% compared to 2019. The number of ransoms paid has also increased from 39% in 2018 to 58% in 2020 (the figure is likely to be even higher when factoring in those organisations that have not disclosed whether a ransom has been paid).