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John Shier stories

John Shier, an author with a keen interest in cybersecurity trends, has dedicated a significant portion of his work to understanding and documenting various forms of cyber threats. His explorations delve deeply into the alarming ascendancy of ransomware within critical sectors such as manufacturing and healthcare, distinguishing significant impacts and evolving tactics within these industries.

His writings reveal detailed analyses of specific ransomware gangs like Hive, LockBit, and BlackCat, and their methodologies in attacking networks, often elucidating the complex nature of simultaneous attacks by multiple ransomware operators. Shier's contributions extend to identifying broader cyber attack trends, such as the exploitation of Remote Desktop Protocol seen prevalently in recent years. Through his comprehensive reports and articles, John provides pivotal insights that aid in the fortification and awareness against cybercriminal activities.

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Report finds 90% of cyber attacks in 2023 exploited RDP
Thu, 11th Apr 2024
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firewalls
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endpoint protection
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network security
Sophos reports the abuse of Remote Desktop Protocol in 90% of cyber attacks in 2023, marking the highest level of RDP misuse since 2020.
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Manufacturing sector pays highest average ransomware payment
Thu, 3rd Nov 2022
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firewalls
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network infrastructure
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ransomware
Manufacturing and production sectors had highest average ransom payment but lowest percentage of organizations that paid the ransom, Sophos report finds.
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Sophos uncovers rampant rise of ransomware in manufacturing
Thu, 27th Oct 2022
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network infrastructure
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firewalls
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ransomware
Sophos' new survey report on ransomware in manufacturing and production found that the sector had the highest average ransom payment across all sectors.
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Sophos reveals latest ransomware trend impacting orgs
Mon, 15th Aug 2022
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malware
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firewalls
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network infrastructure
Sophos has announced in a new whitepaper that Hive, LockBit and BlackCat, three prominent ransomware gangs, consecutively attacked the same network.
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Hive, LockBit, BlackCat ransomware gangs attack same network
Wed, 10th Aug 2022
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malware
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firewalls
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network infrastructure
Each ransomware gang left its own ransom demand, and some of the files were triple encrypted, according to a new report from Sophos.
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Sophos uncovers latest cyber attack trends in Playbook report
Thu, 9th Jun 2022
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firewalls
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network infrastructure
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network security
Research finds that there has been a 36% increase in cyber attack dwell time, with a median intruder dwell time of 15 days in 2021 versus 11 days in 2020.
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Ransomware attacks on healthcare increased 94% in 2021
Fri, 3rd Jun 2022
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malware
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firewalls
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network infrastructure
New research has revealed a 94% increase in ransomware attacks on the organisations within the healthcare sector during 2021.
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Houseparty denies security breach as users accuse app of hacking accounts
Tue, 31st Mar 2020
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cybersecurity
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hack
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cybersafety
The popular face-to-face video hosting service has been accused of hacking users' other accounts, a claim Houseparty disputes.