NCSC Warns of Spike in Hackers Targeting Universities With Ransomware

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Threat Watch NCSC Warns of Spike in Hackers Targeting Universities With Ransomware

NCSC Warns of Spike in Hackers Targeting Universities With Ransomware

Originally reported by ZDNet, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a warning about an increase in hackers targeting universities with ransomware attacks. In the warning issued by the NCSC, some of the most common attack infection vectors were addressed, including RDP, phishing emails, and vulnerable software/hardware. As schools are returning to session, NCSC is urging all universities to ensure that their cybersecurity policies and solutions are up to date and tested.

ANALYST NOTES

As RDP is one of the most common attack infection vectors, Binary Defense recommends securing all RDP access points with multi-factor authentication and RDP Gateway, rather than directly connecting servers to the Internet. Additionally, in order to mitigate the other attack vectors, such as phishing emails, Binary Defense recommends deploying a 24/7 SOC monitoring solution, either as an internal team or a managed security provider such as Binary Defense’s Security Operations Task Force. The NCSC is also urging universities to test how they would respond to a ransomware attack, by signing up for their free “Exercise in a box” tool, which can be found here: https://exerciseinabox.service.ncsc.gov.uk/
To read more, please see:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-warning-hackers-are-launching-fresh-attacks-against-universities/

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