"As hospital ransomware attacks spread to other industries, total corporate solutions are needed," Says Jeremy Samide, CEO of Stealthcare and a global cybersecurity authority.
"Holding hospital data hostage is just the tip of the spear in a new wave of ransomware attacks that are now spreading to law firms and financial institutions," Jeremy Samide, global cybersecurity expert says.
CLEVELAND, June 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "The recent cyber attacks against hospitals in California and Kentucky, during which hackers encrypted their data with new strains of ransomware, are spreading to other industries," says Jeremy Samide, CEO of Stealthcare, a cybersecurity-consulting firm whose clients receive intelligence on the latest hacker strategies and practical solutions to defeat them.
"Holding medical, billing and insurance records hostage is just the just the tip of the arrow in a new wave of ransomware attacks that are now spreading to law firms and financial institutions," says Samide, whose research-based cybersecurity consulting firm is headquartered in Cleveland.
A global cybersecurity authority, Samide has supported the Department of Defense, the U.S. intelligence community, Federal law enforcement agencies and the private sector with cyber defenses. He says, "Stealthcare's research department predicted the evolution and growing sophistication of malware or Evoware, which became a reality in 2016 and evolved to include new ransomware mutations. This is all a part of the latest subterfuges hackers are using. After penetrating the enterprises' system and encrypting all their data, the hackers demand a ransom paid in largely untraceable crypto currencies, such as Bitcoin, to unlock the data." Industry observers have reported ransom demands in excess of $3 million.
According to Samide, "In addition to threats against healthcare providers, the financial community and legal profession are starting to be attacked with ransomware that has reduced them to pen and paper recordkeeping. Our researchers expect these attacks to increase as confidential health, financial and legal information becomes the new trading currency in the deep web."
Stealthcare's (https://stealthcare.com) philosophy calls for putting their clients on offense. Samide says, "Figuring out how to respond after an attack, is like building the fire engine after the house is on fire. We give our clients proactive solutions in advance that include actionable cyber intelligence to defend their organization from current and future threats." Stealthcare is recognized in the cybersecurity industry for investing heavily in research—collecting intelligence through machine learning, human analytics and tradecraft so that the firm can deliver relevant, vetted information on never-before-seen attack vectors.
As an additional service to its clients, Stealthcare also publishes timely information in its Cybersecurity News, a daily online publication covering the latest threats and intel insights into cybersecurity risks, trends and both offensive and defensive analysis.
"Intelligence and technical weapons go only so far," says Samide adding, "Cybersecurity complacency is the biggest enemy. Unless there is a total organization-wide commitment and business-wide solutions, IT departments alone will lose the war against sophisticated hackers who grow bolder every day. Management—from the boardroom on down—must build resistance and resiliency from cyber attacks. It's the only way to protect the enterprise and its brand equity.
Samide offers two DIY takeaways. He urges two-factor authentication, an encryption technology in which every login requires a password plus a second challenge such as an additional code, question or biometric. He also calls for encrypting data at rest and in transit.
Stealthcare (https://stealthcare.com) is a research-based, solutions-focused cybersecurity consulting firm. Stealthcare provides turnkey solutions offering a unique cyber threat intelligence platform, cybersecurity awareness training and hardware and software security solutions from the industry's best-in-class security products
Samide is an industry-recognized and highly sought after cybersecurity expert with over 15 years of leading edge private sector and government security consulting and research and development work. He has spoken on next generation security threats for insurance companies, banks and family offices in Canada, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and across the United States. Before being appointed CEO of Stealthcare, Samide was the lead consultant for Stealthcare Labs on cybersecurity and threat intelligence initiatives.
Contact:
Dick Pirozzolo
1-617-959-4613
SOURCE Stealthcare
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