In 2024, ransomware has continued to be one of the most devastating cyber threats facing businesses globally. As we explore this escalating crisis, it becomes clear that the tactics used by cybercriminals are evolving rapidly, becoming more sophisticated, more frequent, and more costly than ever before.

In a troubling repeat of last year's events, McLaren Health Care in Michigan is once again grappling with a significant IT disruption, raising alarms about another potential cybersecurity incident. This disruption, impacting the hospital's computer and phone systems, is reminiscent of the ransomware attack the organization faced in the fall of 2023.

As a cybersecurity expert, it's clear to me that such widespread outages often signal a cyberattack rather than a simple IT issue.

Cybersecurity involves practices and technologies to protect computers, networks, programs, and data from unauthorized access and attacks. Essentially, we're safeguarding data because cybercriminals target personal information, healthcare data, and financial details for identity theft and fraud.

Recently, Leidos Holdings, a major IT service provider to the Pentagon and other prominent US government agencies, faced a significant hack. This event has raised alarms and highlighted critical vulnerabilities within our cybersecurity infrastructure.

Leidos, based in Virginia, serves high-profile clients, including the US Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, NASA, and various other US and foreign agencies.

This blog provides the latest update on the CrowdStrike-Microsoft outage, which has caused a global IT disruption affecting thousands of companies worldwide. The fallout has been extensive, impacting everything from airports and banks to some government entities.

So, what’s going on with CrowdStrike? From what I've gathered, CrowdStrike rolled out an update that conflicted with Windows, causing many systems to crash with the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, mentioned that they’ve identified the issue and are working on a fix.

It was recently announced that approximately 2 million Rite Aid customers had their information stolen. This breach occurred several years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s only making headlines now. The ransomware gang Ransom Hub claimed responsibility for the attack, initially estimating that 45 million customers were affected.

AT&T recently disclosed a massive data breach in which hackers stole phone call records and text message metadata from nearly all their customers. This breach is said to have affected data from May 2022 to January 2023. While the specifics of conversations and message content were not compromised, the text messages' metadata were exposed.

Patelco Credit Union recently found itself at the center of a major ransomware attack. This incident has resulted in lawsuits and significant financial stress for its members. This blog explores the implications of this attack, the subsequent legal battles, and Patelco's response.

The automotive industry is facing a significant upheaval due to a recent cyberattack on CDK Global, a prominent provider of IT and digital marketing solutions for auto dealers. This incident has disrupted the operations of tens of thousands of auto dealers and affected hundreds of thousands of workers, highlighting vulnerabilities that could have far-reaching economic implications.