Sierra Wireless, CNA Ransomware Attacks Stoke Growing Industry Fears

If you weren’t already afraid of ransomware attacks, some of this week’s headlines serve as a chilling reminder of the potential devastation. A Sierra Wireless ransomware attack halted the IoT solution provider’s internal operations and production. Even the company’s website is down.

The company, which is active in the channel, said it discovered the attack on its internal IT systems on March 20. Since then, its IT and operations teams implemented measures to counter the attack.

In response to the ransomware attack, Sierra Wireless stopped production at its manufacturing sites. As of Friday, production has resumed and the company is working to bring internal IT systems back online, including its website.

The company isn’t commenting on who may be behind the attack or if they’re demanding a ransom.

Cyber Insurance Provider Also Attacked

CNA, one of the nation’s top cyber insurance providers, discovered it was victim of a sophisticated cyberattack on March 21. The attack caused a network disruption and impacted certain CNA systems, including corporate email. Its website also is down.

Bleeping Computer confirmed CNA suffered an attack by a new ransomware known as Phoenix CryptoLocker.

CynergisTek’s Caleb Barlow

Caleb Barlow is CEO of CynergisTek.

“It’s quite ironic they targeted the cybersecurity insurance company itself,” he said. “But it just demonstrates that anyone can be a victim. And everyone needs to be prepared to respond to a cybersecurity incident.”

Axio’s Dave White

Ransomware attacks continue to rise with recent trends suggesting hackers will use ransomware more frequently in 2021 and beyond. That means companies need to be more vigilant than ever to prepare for attacks.

So what should organizations be doing to help ensure they’re not the next target? We spoke with Dave White, president of Axio, to find out.

See our slideshow above for our Q&A with White and more cybersecurity news making headlines this week.