Tabush Group's Cloud & Managed IT Blog

“The attack starts, innocently enough, with an email. But when someone clicks the link inside, hackers quickly take over.”  Once a cybercriminal is in your network, they start demanding a ransom.  Immediately, questions arise: What exactly is ransomware?  What should we do now?  Why were we targeted?  How could we have prevented this?

Ransomware attacks are on the rise and cybercriminals have increasingly started to target all types of businesses, no matter their size.  Your business is a target and increased discussion about your business’s IT security can help prevent an attack.

Legal case management software platform, TrialWorks, was hit by a ransomware attack in mid-October.  Some of the company’s customers were unable to access their case management accounts for a couple of days!  This is a reputable company that is widely used, and this attack brought the law firms’ productivity to a halt when they could not access client data, case notes, communications, billing, and more.

While it’s unknown exactly what malware infected the software, experts are presuming that the firm paid the ransomware to obtain the decryption keys and restore files.  Within days, TrialWorks announced that it hired several cybersecurity firms to investigate the incident and help restore normal operations.

Cloud is one of the hot topics in IT and has been for the past few years. Prior to 2010, cloud products were often inferior to their traditional on-premise counterparts. Since then, however, much has changed, including advancements in telecom, mobile devices, and data center technologies.  Combine that with the maturity of cloud providers and products, and now cloud solutions are often positioned as the best option for law firms.

The vast majority of data breaches today are phishing attacks, occurring when a cybercriminal casts a broad net in the hopes of catching a small percentage of unsuspecting victims.  In our last blog post, It’s Only Getting Worse, we describe both phishing and spear phishing tactics and why it is imperative for businesses to take precautions to protect themselves. 

Recently, a company called me to discuss concerns about their IT security.  This company, based in the US but doing business with clients and vendors in many parts of the world, has been inundated with phishing emails.  The difference here is that these phishing emails are not just generic ones that pretend to be Microsoft Office 365 or UPS trying to steal passwords, but rather, they are spear phishing.  Spear phishing involves impersonating actual people associated with the company, like executives or vendors, in attempts to steal money or proprietary information.  These schemes are becoming more and more common.

At Tabush Group, we express our values that are highlighted as our core values, both internally and around our community.  We practice integrity to unite our company with diverse causes and encourage our team to act as role models.  We exercise care towards our employees, clients, and the world around us.

With this in mind, our team worked together to provide sustenance to groups that are sometimes overlooked. We understand that the efforts made within our office can create a ripple effect beyond our reach.

Microsoft Office 365 is growing in popularity as one of the most professional and functional cloud software suites available.  Microsoft estimates it is now being used by 1 in 5 business users, putting this cloud-based service on the radar of cybercriminals.  The greatest popularity of Office 365 resides in the financial and professional services and manufacturing sectors, which are rich with potential plunder for these criminals.

Tabush Group has been named as one of the world’s premier managed service providers on the prestigious 12^th annual Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings.