Sandoval News

Top targets

Healthcare and public health topped the list, with 148 reported ransomware incidents.

Financial services came in second, suffering 89 attacks.

The IT sector also took a hit, with 74 victims affected by ransomware.

Critical manufacturing wasn’t far behind, with 65 reported incidents.

In 2020, there were 10 ransomware attacks against businesses in New Mexico.

In 2021, that number almost doubled, to 19, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

It’s likely higher.

As the numbers grow, so does the the attention of federal officials.

According to an announcement July 29, the FBI wants to make private industry in New Mexico aware of increased malicious cyber intrusions and encourage companies of all sizes to establish proactive relationships with us as soon as possible.

Executives and cyber agents from the Albuquerque FBI Division are involved in media appearances, a social media campaign and presentations to local industry groups.

“The most important action a company can take in preparing for a cyber security incident is to develop a relationship with their local FBI field office before it happens,” Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda said n the announcement. “We can provide intelligence on trends as well as advice to help you avoid computer compromises in the first place. And you will have a dedicated FBI contact you can call 24/7 to quickly report an incident and get us working to help you.”

Nationally, between 2019 and 2021, the number of ransomware complaints reported to IC3 increased by 82 percent.

In 2021, ransomware posed the biggest threat to critical infrastructure organizations, with 649 complaints, according to the FBI.

In June, the FBI said, it began tracking reported ransomware incidents involving critical sectors. Between May and June, two notable ransomware attacks occurred; one against Colonial Pipeline Co., which affected the U.S. gas supply, and another against meat processing company JBS Foods.

The report highlighted 16 sectors overall “whose assets, systems and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect” on public health, safety and other critical elements.

“Of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors, IC3 reporting indicated 14 sectors had at least one member that fell victim to a ransomware attack in 2021,” the report said.

Healthcare and public health topped the list, with 148 reported ransomware incidents.

Financial services came in second, suffering 89 attacks.

The IT sector also took a hit, with 74 victims affected by ransomware. Critical manufacturing wasn’t far behind, with 65 reported incidents.

The FBI recommends that all companies, regardless of size, take these preventive measures during this heightened threat environment:

– If possible, identify your company’s most sensitive information and encrypt it.

– Ensure your organization has an incident response plan that includes the FBI. Your organization should exercise your incident response plan on a routine basis.

– Ensure you have offline backups of critical data.

– If your computers are compromised, contact the FBI immediately.

What to Do After a Cyber Intrusion

– Contact the FBI as soon as you learn of a cyber intrusion. During a crisis, we can work shoulder-to-shoulder with your incident response team in your U.S. office while also working with foreign partners.

By working with the FBI, you are working to help prevent the actor from victimizing others and potentially from re-victimizing you.

The FBI shares information with the private sector through one-on-one outreach, cyber threat bulletins, and through our many partnerships, including the Fortune-1000 companies who belong to the Domestic Security Alliance Council (DSAC) and the U.S. critical infrastructure professionals in our national InfraGard program.

For more information, please visit: https://www.dsac.gov/.

InfraGard is a partnership between the FBI and members of the private sector to protect U.S. Critical Infrastructure. Through seamless collaboration, InfraGard connects owners and operators within critical infrastructure to the FBI to provide education, information sharing, networking and workshops on emerging technologies and threats.

InfraGard’s membership includes business executives, entrepreneurs, lawyers, security personnel, military, and government officials, IT professionals, academia, and state and local law enforcement—all dedicated to contributing industry-specific insight and advancing national security.

To learn more about joining InfraGard, please visit www.infragard.org.

FBI alerts and advisories are provided directly through the InfraGard platform.

IC3 also provides Industry Alerts at https://www.ic3.gov/Home/IndustryAlerts.

Contacting the FBI

Contact the FBI Albuquerque Field Office at (505) 889-1300.

You can report internet crimes at www.ic3.gov and other suspicious criminal activity at tips.fbi.gov.

Original source found here.