Resources

As Americans, our civic duties include voting, sitting on juries, and paying taxes—but those aren't the only duties that promote American values. GroupSense CEO Kurtis Minder believes that cyber hygiene is your civic duty, too. Last weekend, Kurtis had the honor of presenting at TedX Grand Junction. During his talk, "What You Need to Know About Ransomware," Kurtis spoke about the actions we can all take to protect our nation and its critical infrastructure: small businesses.

This week, Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst Samira Pakmehr and Director of Intelligence Operations Bryce Webster-Jacobsen presented their talk, "The Role of Cryptocurrency in Ransomware Negotiations and Other Cybercrimes," at the virtual SANS Ransomware Summit. Packed with a full day of sessions, attendees come away from the summit with deeper insight into today's ransomware landscape and its inner workings. 

Note: This content was updated on June 29 with updates on Killnet's activity in Lithuania. 

Impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict keep coming, and the Russian military isn’t the only actor fighting to defend their country against adversaries. Nationalist hacking groups are launching geopolitically charged cyber attacks against perceived adversaries, including the hacktivist group called Killnet. Their main focus in the past few weeks are nations providing support to Ukraine.

GroupSense CEO Kurtis Minder presented at last week's Colorado Airport Operators Association (CAOA) Spring Conference in Grand Junction, CO. As part of our nation's critical infrastructure, the aviation industry is prone to ransomware and cyber attacks, just like utilities, state governments, and schools. Members of the CAOA have the opportunity to take action against ransomware in their industry by taking a few small steps.

After a two-year hiatus, RSA Conference returned to the Moscone Center in San Francisco for another exciting week. GroupSense’s CEO, Kurtis Minder, and Director of Intelligence Operations, Bryce-Webster Jacobsen, presented their talk, “Dissecting the Ransomware Killchain: Why Companies Need It,” to a packed audience. Kurtis was also interviewed by Jax S. of Outpost Gray. 

When faced with ransomware, revenue loss and damage to your organization’s reputation aren’t the only things to worry about. To reach the best-case scenario after an attack, your ransomware response team must understand how to talk to threat actors. With the right people on the team, you’re already off to a good start.

Ransomware is one of the most dynamic, constantly changing forms of cryptocurrency-based crime. As of February 2022, we’ve identified just over $720 million worth of ransomware payments in 2021 and that number keeps growing. But what happens when a business encounters ransomware?

Old misconceptions of lone hackers sitting in dark basements are long gone and are replaced by the new wave of cybercrime-as-a-service models marking a new era. With operations like many other businesses, ransomware and other cybercrime gangs have a business structure, “customer” support, and an org chart. How can organizations communicate effectively with the threat actors that are attacking their systems with ransomware? 

GroupSense CEO Kurtis Minder spoke at Colorado Mesa University’s Entrepreneurship Day on April 27. During his keynote, “The Software Won’t Save You,” he spoke about the genesis of GroupSense’s Ransomware practice, how attackers carry out ransomware attacks, and how each of us can help protect our own computer systems with simple cyber hygiene.

Cybersecurity professionals now think of ransomware as inevitable for organizations of all shapes and sizes. With a relatively quick payoff, ransomware provides cyber criminals with a fast, reliable revenue stream. If your organization is facing an attack, it’s vital to get the first few decisions right.