In 1970, the world experienced its first “cyber attack” – What first started as a harmless joke, paved the way for a new wave of criminality - cybercrime. Since then, attacks have become more sophisticated with the use of malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks, among many others. In fact, according to Security Magazine, today’s hackers attack computers with Internet access every 39 seconds on average.
Vendor risk management (VRM) is the type of risk management practice assessing and mitigating business partners, third parties, or external vendors. This process is conducted before an entity enters into a business relationship and during the duration of the business contract with the vendor.
Vendor risk management (VRM) is rapidly emerging with ever-evolving cyber security strategies. As we hit the pandemic and try to manage critical operations in a remote work setup, each day, business entities challenge with the new security, privacy, and business continuity risks associated with their vendors.
Someone in your organization gets an email with an attached document. The sender seems legitimate, but when they click on the link, it’s not what it claims to be. Soon your organization’s data is encrypted and you receive a message: pay a ransom to the attackers if you want the decryption key. You’ve just been the victim of a ransomware attack. Ransomware has become a major attack vector in 2021.
As we’ve all learned, often the hard way, amazing tech has introduced not-so-amazing risks: viruses, hacks, and leaks, to name a few. A data breach or cyber attack can happen at any moment, to individuals or businesses of any size – and attackers do not discriminate.
I’ve been working at Tripwire for over two decades, and I’ve acquired a fair bit of swag over those years: branded jackets, hats, shoes, a watch, and of course a drawer full of t-shirts. One thing I never would have predicted owning was a Tripwire-branded face mask to protect me from a global pandemic. Over the past year, I’ve worn that face mask more than any of my other swag. Of course, none of my other swag protected me and others from a highly contagious, deadly virus.
Ransomware groups have generated so much damage that the United States Federal government has made it a top priority to thwart such efforts including, hosting a major international summit on the topic, setting up a ransomware task force and repeatedly urging organizations to improve their cyber resilience.
