How Ransomware Is Impacting U.S. Supply Chains
Over the past few years ransomware attacks have continued to increase in volume as well as scope, impacting many Americans everyday lives. In fact, ransomware attacks increased by 92% in 2021 compared to 2020. While the immediate impacts are not always felt by the public, there are increasing cases of cyber criminal groups targeting critical infrastructure utilized by every American citizen. One such example is 2021's Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. However, as tensions grow overseas there is an increasing concern that U.S. supply chain's may be at risk.
According to an exclusive article by Jana Winter, an investigate correspondent for Yahoo! news, it seems that hackers and ransomware gangs are targeting logistic and shipping companies to cripple the American supply chain. As most people have already noticed the American supply chain has been strained for a while now. Not only is it the result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the supply chain is currently and will continue to be impacted by ongoing sanctions against Russia in the Ukraine invasion. It is also believed that because of these sanctions we may see "increased malicious cyber activity" from Russian, state sponsored ransomware groups as mentioned in the most recent White House statement on cybersecurity.
In fact it is stated by Jana Winter that "ransomware attacks on the supply chain are undermining national security". At the nations current pace both private organizations and the federal government are not capable of competing with sophisticated ransomware groups. A recent example includes a ransomware attack on Expeditors, a freight forwarding company based out of Seattle, that was stuck with an attack in February of 2022. Knowing that they can successfully breach some of the largest logistics companies in the world, it is probable that we will continue to see the U.S. Supply chain be targeted from sophisticated ransomware gangs like DarkSide or REvil.
The unique consequence of ransomware is that once an organization falls victim to a breach, the perpetrators are able to shut down operations for days at a time. This is especially detrimental to logistic companies that rely on the timely delivery of supplies and other goods. If you run or are a part of a logistics company responsible for the shipping of crucial goods and supplies then now is the time to start taking cybersecurity seriously.
Contact CorpInfoTech today to see how our managed services can defend your systems from ransomware and other attacks!
CorpInfoTech (Corporate Information Technologies) provides small to mid-market organizations with expert I.T. services including compliance assessment, cybersecurity penetration tests, and comprehensive business continuity planning services. CorpInfoTech can help organizations, quantify, create, refine, and mitigate the risks presented by business threatening disasters in whatever form they may be disguised.
