A top global consulting firm in August confirmed it had been attacked by the Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) threat group known as LockBit. An estimated 2,500 of the firm’s partner and employee endpoints were reportedly compromised. Bleeping Computer reports the gang claimed the attack was an inside job and threatened to publish 6TB of stolen data unless the firm meets its demands for a $50M ransom payment.
The consulting firm indicated the attack was “immediately contained” after it identified “irregular activity in one of our environments,” and stated that there has been “no impact on our operations, or on our clients’ systems."
Valued at $225 billion as of late October 2021, it is one of the world’s largest tech consultancy firms, with 624,000 employees serving customers in 120 countries. Their clients include 91 of the Fortune Global 100, and more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500.
The LockBit attack is a sobering reminder that firms of every size and scope are vulnerable to cyberattacks, and of the critical importance of adopting a prevention-first security posture that mitigates ransomware and other cyber risks by neutralizing malware before the exploitation stage of the kill-chain.
MSSPs need to pay attention and leverage technologies that prevent attacks from occurring in the first place. Unlike this global consulting firm, many mid-market and SMBs, who typically look to MSSPs for support, would not be able to absorb the impact of a ransomware attack with the average cost of a data breach at close to $3 million for SMBs.
The Good News: BlackBerry Customers Are Protected
After an in-depth assessment, the BlackBerry Research & Intelligence Team has confirmed that the seventh-generation Cylance AI model that powers BlackBerry Protect and BlackBerry Optics is effective at protecting endpoints from LockBit infections.
BlackBerry also offers a portfolio of insider threat software and services solutions that include BlackBerry Persona, an AI-driven continuous authentication and behavior analytics solution that detects and responds to the unusual activity that often accompanies an insider attack.
BlackBerry will continue monitoring the situation and will provide updates as they become available.
Learn More About Becoming An MSSP Partner
If you want to prevent LockBit ransomware or a similar threat from impacting your clients, we can help. To learn more about the BlackBerry MSSP Program, powered by solutions based on the Cylance AI model, please visit our MSSP Program Site.
Find out more about BlackBerry and the BlackBerry Cylance MSSP Partners Program. Read more BlackBerry Cylance blogs here. Regularly contributed guest blogs are part of MSSP Alert’s sponsorship program.
