Two Notable U.S. companies Have Been Victimized By Cyber Threat Actors and Ransomware during August 2020

CWT Travel Management Company and Tesla Electric Vehicle Company

During the last month, two notable U.S. companies have been victimized by cyber threat actors and ransomware. CWT, a U.S. travel management company, paid a $4.5 million ransom to decrypt 30,000 devices and to delete sensitive CWT data stolen by the cyber threat actors. Tesla, a U.S. electric vehicle company, cooperated with the FBI to arrest a Russian cybercriminal intent on recruiting a Tesla employee to allow malware into the Tesla network to extract sensitive data to extort Tesla.

Questions to Consider For Your Next Cybersecurity Discussion

For Corporate Directors and Senior Management, here are some questions to consider for your next cybersecurity conversation regarding ransomware:

1. Are you aware of all successful ransomware attacks to your organization?
2. Is there an organizational escalation protocol to advise Senior Management and the Board of any ransomware attack?
3. Does your cyber insurance policy cover ransomware attacks?
4. If your organization has suffered a ransomware attack, has your organization had a cybersecurity assessment conducted of its cybersecurity risk management program?

A successful ransomware attack is a symptom of a much larger enterprise-wide cybersecurity risk management problem.
For a more robust read on ransomware and its impact to an organization, please read my article titled, “Ransomware: Today’s Example of the Failure of an Organization’s Enterprise-wide Cybersecurity Risk Management Program"