What is Ransomware and Why Is it a Major Cybersecurity Threat in 2021?

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Major infrastructure in the United States is under attack. As more heavy industrial companies, defense contractors and government agencies increasingly rely on cloud platforms and IT solutions to serve their users and constituents, hackers are finding ways to leverage vulnerabilities and steal information. 

The problem with these attacks is that they are taking advantage of the fact that a flaw in a cloud platform can undermine security with a completely unrelated company or industry. As we’ve learned from the SolarWinds hack, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and now the LineStar attack, a single flaw in a cloud platform can open up critical energy production and manufacturing operations to being held hostage for millions of dollars in ransom.

Ransomware isn’t just a consumer issue. Here, we cover the state of ransomware in 2021 and how different organizations are responding to the problem.

 

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What is NIST 800-53 Version 5?

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NIST 800-53 is the cornerstone of many government cybersecurity policies in the United States, including how security shapes partnerships between federal agencies and IT and cloud providers. Understandably, it has gone through several revisions since its initial publication in 2005 to meet evolving security threats. 

Here, we’ll discuss the latest revision of NIST 800-53, Revision 5. This revision will go into full effect for all providers on September 23, 2021, with the withdrawal of Revision 4. 

 

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What is the Difference Between Cybersecurity and Compliance?

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Words like cybersecurity and compliance are often interchangeable without much care taken with how they differ. But make no mistake: while they are related practices, both are different approaches to a common problem of cybersecurity threats. 

Here we break down the differences and, more importantly, why these differences are important when you have to meet compliance requirements or undergo audits. 

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