Post-REvil Takedown, MSSPs Need to Get Ready for Resurgence

The U.S. government took down the REvil group last week. Ransomware gangs are not happy about that development (as if there’s much sympathy for them). Now members of REvil (the criminals who have attacked Kaseya, among other high-profile targets) and the Conti group are busy publishing anti-U.S. screeds, according to NBC News. But rather than give those guys more airtime, Channel Futures is looking ahead. Hackers are like the Hydra monster of Greek mythology: Cut off one head and two more grow back. In other words, REvil’s cyber criminals may be down for now, but they’ll get back on their digital feet.

Brett Callow, an analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emisoft, told NBC as much.

“I suspect it’s all empty posturing: bravado intended to reassure any of their affiliates or other partners-in-crime who may be getting cold feet,” Callow said.

Knowing that, and given that other organized cyber criminals remain effective, managed security service providers have to be prepared. Keep working to protect customers’ environments from ransomware and other cybersecurity breaches. One important way to do that is to continue learning about new platforms and trends. After all, it’s not possible to jump ahead of the hackers. Security experts agree — there is no outpacing cyber criminals, there’s only making life really, really hard for them (which, frankly, sounds like a blast).

In line with that frame of mind, we’ve created a new slideshow. This one doesn’t just highlight products. Instead, we look at the context around ever-rising ransomware attacks and other breaches, including those related to cloud, and we discuss platforms MSSPs could use to combat those problems. At the end, we also highlight a troublesome trend that, while incredibly unsavory and unpleasant, we believe requires MSSP awareness and aptitude.

Click the photo above to start the slideshow.