Active Defense & Deception , COVID-19 , Critical Infrastructure Security

Modern Bank Heists 3.0: 'A Hostage Situation'

Ransomware, wire transfer fraud, destructive attacks: From the start of February to the end of April, these were among the top online attacks hitting the financial sector, which saw the overall attack volume against it surge by 238%, says VMware Carbon Black's Tom Kellermann.

See Also: Real-World Strategies for Securing Remote Workforces and Data

"The bank heist itself has really transitioned to a hostage situation, where the cybercriminals are not just burglarizing or conducting wire-transfer fraud - even though that's up - but they are lingering in these systems, and then when the defender reacts to the cybercriminal, they're leveraging counter-incident response and destructive attacks … almost [in] a punitive fashion," says Kellermann, reviewing the findings from VMware Carbon Black's third edition of its Modern Bank Heists report.

In a video interview with Information Security Media Group about this new report, Kellermann discusses:

• The latest attack trends in the COVID-19 era;
• Which current defenses are most vulnerable;
• Top takeaways from attacks on financial institutions - and what other sectors must learn.

Kellermann, head of cybersecurity strategy at VMware Carbon Black, is the former CEO of Strategic Cyber Ventures. He's a cyber intelligence expert, author, professor and leader in the field of cybersecurity. He held a seat on the Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th President of the United States and served as an adviser to the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance. As chief cybersecurity officer for Trend Micro, he was responsible for analysis of emerging cybersecurity threats and relevant defensive technologies.