Right before their big spring product launch, a group of hackers claimed to have stolen their product blueprints for $50 Million in the ransom demand.
The data was stolen not from Apple but their distributor – Quanta computers. As proof, they released confidential documents about upcoming, unreleased MacBook Pros. They’ve since added iMac schematics to the pile.
The hackers confirmed stealing data and schematics and threatened that they would sell the data to the highest bidder if they didn’t get a $50 million payment.
How Was the Attack on Apple Different From the Usual Ransomware Attack?
For decades, ransomware attacks were a simple transaction of encrypting a victim’s files, asking for the money, once paid, giving victims their decryption key.
In 2021, the landscape of ransomware attacks has changed. Now, the hackers steal the files before encrypting them and threaten the victims to leak confidential information if the ransom is not paid in time. They do this to acquire additional leverage and ensure payment.
So, even if the victims have a backup of their files, they run the risk of having confidential information shared on the internet if the ransom is unpaid.
For the past couple of years, extortion in the name of a ransomware attack is becoming a norm.
How Do The Attackers Know Who to Target?
There are multiple strategies that hackers adopt to shortlist their targets. One of which is targeting a not-so-household name supplier or a vendor who has a prominent client base. In the case of the Apple ransomware attack, even though Apple was the primary target, the hackers victimized Apple’s distributor Quanta computers to ensure their efforts are successful.
The actual transaction information remains unknown as Apple and/or Quanta computers have not released it yet.
Quick Tip On Ransomware Attacks
As the landscape of ransomware attacks is rapidly changing, it won’t hurt to evaluate or re-evaluate your business risks with an expert. Talk to our cybersecurity expert Wayne Westernacher-Schneider to discuss your current mitigation levels and how you can tighten your cybersecurity. Contact Wayne at [email protected].
You could also sign-up for our weekly cybersecurity tips here: www.idealogical.com/cyber-security-tips.
Life After Covid-19 Live Webinar hosted by Idealogical
On May 4th, Idealogical hosted a LIVE session on Life after Covid-19, which focused on preparing businesses on different work models after the covid-19 dust settles. The webinar was open for select few business owners, and key decision-makers who we knew would benefit from the topic at hand.
The guest speaker Kyle Thornhill from HR Performance & Results, spoke about HR issues around vaccination requirements and overall policies. Next, Nikki Pett from Sigma promotions shared some helpful strategies to boost company culture. And lastly, Wayne Westernacher-Schneider from Idealogical shed light on various security and cost considerations for each of the models.
In this LIVE session, the experts answered pressing questions like:
- What are the different work models I can adopt after Covid-19 is over?
- How do I know the most optimal work model for my business is?
- What are the long-term technology arrangements we will have to make?
- With the increase in cyberattacks, how do we control business security while employees work in different models?
- How will I bring back/ retain my company culture?
- How will I keep my employees motivated and engaged after everything we have been through in the last year?
One of the attendees said, “this session had some very useful nuggets of information, and I would love to share it with my team.”
If you missed the LIVE session, you could watch the recording here: www.idealogical.com/live-sessions/life-after-covid-19.
Important Announcement for Idealogical Clients
In an effort to improve our customer service, we have opened a dedicated channel of communication dedicated to you. This channel will update you on outages, attacks and other critical updates. Please white mark our email address [email protected] in your mailbox to stay up-to-date on all our emergency communication.
