Industries that should wary of seasonal ransomware attacks

Ransomware and its wrath

Despite numerous security software & AI-driven techniques came in the market that has evolved in the cybersecurity world, ransomware is still a severe threat. Threat actors and ransomware gangs are conspiring many seasonal ransomware attacks, targeting agricultural co-operatives. These gangs have started their attack model with the motive of stealing proprietary information and operational disturbance that can lead to financial losses in the agricultural sector and even food shortages. Such well-timed ransomware attacks can be an alarming danger for the masses. This article will give a quick walkthrough on seasonal ransomware attacks, how the FBI warns the agricultural sector to brace for such threats and various prevention measures.

The looming danger of seasonal ransomware attacks

Very recently, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a private notification document where the release note strictly warns the agriculture sectors (covering “farmers’ co-operations”) of the looming threat these seasonal ransomware attacks are posing. The warning states that in times of critical harvesting seasons, such attacks could lead to general agricultural cooperative operational imbalance or proprietary information theft. FBI was aware of the seasonal ransomware attacks that caused massive damage during September 2021. It is the second time the FBI is warning the agricultural sector to stay aware of such threats.

Ransomware attack

Over the past few years, the ransomware threat has increased significantly in the agricultural sector because of the massive adoption of IoT systems & smart technologies to automate and ease operations. Also, according to BlackFog’s statistical reports for 2022, apart from agricultural firms and co-operatives, ransomware gangs are also targeting different sectors like technology, manufacturing, healthcare, government, etc. “Since 2021, multiple agricultural cooperatives have been impacted by many ransomware variants. Cyber actors may perceive cooperatives as lucrative targets with a willingness to pay due to the time-sensitive role they play in agricultural production,” says the security researcher of the agency. According to the FBI, such ransomware attacks in agricultural sectors occur because of various common intrusion vectors like exploiting typical or unpatched vulnerabilities. Other reasons include employing vulnerable shared network resources, unpatched IoT apps, and compromising managed services.

Some after-effects of seasonal Ransomware attacks

The FBI was well aware of the seasonal ransomware attacks that targeted agricultural sectors and farming co-ops. Some of these ransomware attacks lead to the disruption of administrative operations, while others impact production. Last year, a ransomware name BlackMatter hit Iowa’s cooperative firm and demanded a ransom of 5.9 million USD. The ransomware forced the company to shut down infected devices and offline its processes to minimize the threat and prevent the entire system from spreading. Because of that attack, the ransomware gang pocketed 1,000 GB of sensitive corporate data. The stolen data includes employee details, financial documents, and the source code of that farming technology system.

Ransomware threats in various industrial sectors

Another ransomware attack hit the cooperative sector just two days after Iowa’s Cooperative attack. Another prominent farmer’s co-op named Crystal Valley Cooperative in Minnesota got hit by an unknown ransomware strain. This ransomware prevented the company from processing different essential payment cards, causing its phone system significant downtime.

Seeing such a massive pattern of seasonal ransomware threats toward the agricultural sector, the FBI has listed down the names of some well-known ransomware that is infecting the food and agricultural sector. Some of them are:

· BlackMatter

· BlackByte

· Sodinokibi

· Conti

· LockBit

· HelloKittySunCrypt

Preventive measures against such ransomware threats –

There are different security postures food & agricultural cooperatives and firms can take to prevent such seasonal ransomware attacks. FBI also recommends focusing on intelligent systems, networks, and apps as cybercriminals usually target to exploit numerous vulnerabilities in them.

Some significant preventive measures are:

· Regular data backup: Cooperatives and other enterprises have to back up their corporate data regularly. Even if the ransomware encrypts all data, the cooperative firm can recover those data from the backup.

· Software patches: Patching of firmware or other support programs is essential as soon as they become available in the market.

· Network segmentation: Agricultural firms with numerous IoT systems embedded in their technological ecosystem can make the entire system vulnerable. Therefore, segmenting the network into smaller sections can make troubleshooting faster, easy bug fixing, and detection of threats quickly.

· MFA and anti-malware: Workers and employees should implement multi-factor authentication wherever possible. Also, the use of anti-malware makes the ecosystem more robust.

· Ask for help: If the cooperative encounters an attack situation, they can seek help and immediate remediation from the security companies like PacketLabs.

Conclusion

We hope this article has given you a crisp idea of the seasonal ransomware attacks and how to stay a step ahead of such threats. For more security solutions and guidance against ransomware attacks, tap security experts and security services to improve your corporate security posture. To learn more about such preventive measures, stay tuned to my Medium blog.

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