The week in security: Petya derivative makes CSOs WannaCry all over again

It was WannaCry all over again as a new ransomware strain, based on Petya malware, swept across the world.

Even as investigators began to suspect the new strain was more of a wiper designed for data destruction, Microsoft was demonstrating a new Controlled folder access feature designed to enforce application whitelists.

An important part of responding to cybersecurity attacks is to have an effective incident response plan in place. Otherwise, it’s easy to end up languishing in inactivity – as with the two out of three merchants that fail to change their fraud prevention strategies even after suffering a data breach.

One team of security researchers was working on a way to secure enterprise content management systems without patching, while others were more focused on advising security executives on how to spot and prevent insider threats.

Such threats are part of a broader threat climate in which IT and security personnel are put in a no-win situation – and the situation is only going to get more challenging as new regulations, such as the EU’s GDPR, kick in next year. Make sure you’re already working on compliance to ensure you don’t get caught flat-footed.

Tags insider threatsCSO Australiathreat climateWannaCryPetya malwarePetya derivative

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