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Cyberattacks seem to have no end. A new one targeted Olympus, a firm that specializes in medical technology, over the weekend, on Sunday, October 10. Following this Olympus cyberattack, the companies from the U.S., Latin America, and Canada had to close off their IT systems.
In regards to the “potential” Olympus cyberattack, the enterprise did not confirm if company data or customer information were leaked or accessed in this incident.
They also released a communication on this matter saying that:
Upon detection of suspicious activity, we immediately mobilized a specialized response team including forensics experts, and we are currently working with the highest priority to resolve this issue. As part of the investigation and containment, we have suspended affected systems and have informed the relevant external partners. The current results of our investigation indicate the incident was contained to the Americas with no known impact to other regions. (…) We are working with appropriate third parties on this situation and will continue to take all necessary measures to serve our customers and business partners in a secure way.
Succeeding BlackMatter Ransomware Attack on Olympus’ EMEA
As BleepingComputer mentions, this new Olympus cyberattack follows the one that happened at the beginning of September when BlackMatter ransomware was attacking Olympus’ EMEA.
Data related to the cybercriminals’ identity was not provided by Olympus at that time, but it was established that the BlackMatter ransomware gang was behind it, the identified ransom notes on compromised systems being probatory in this sense. Even more, the ransom notes indicated a Tor Website, a webpage used by threat actors under discussion in the past as a communication channel with the affected parties.
Ransomware Operators Prefer Weekends
A join advisory the FBI and CISA released during the month of August, that we also wrote about at the beginning of September, stated clearly that it was noticed
an increase in highly impactful ransomware attacks occurring on holidays and weekends—when offices are normally closed—in the United States, as recently as the Fourth of July holiday in 2021
Look at the recent biggest attacks that support this affirmation, Kaseya, JBS, Colonial Pipeline, all big organizations hit by ransomware attacks over the weekend. Not to mention the severe consequences, JBS having to pay $11 million ransom and Colonial Pipeline $4.4 ransom.
Why do cybercriminals prefer weekends though?
The answer is simple enough. This is their method to buy some extra time, therefore to delay detection, since most organizations take a break during weekends or holidays.
Who Is Olympus?
Olympus is a company founded in 1919 being a technology leader in the medical sector that develops cutting-edge opto-digital products, life science, and consumer electronics products.
How to Fence Off Cyberattacks
How else than by making use of the best cybersecurity solutions? We at Heimdal™ know that cyber defense is the only way to clean off the nowadays cyber threat landscape. Detect and remove threats with Threat Prevention and Next-Gen Antivirus, protect your e-mail with E-mail Security and E-mail Fraud, restrict rights with Privileged Access Management, keep up to date with software changes using Patch Management, say goodbye to ransomware with Ransomware Encryption Protection, and many more. Here’s a tip for you: they work better together, supporting the concept of unified cybersecurity. Learn more on our Heimdal™ Home Page.
Hi! My name is Andra and I am a passionate writer interested in a variety of topics. I am curious about the cybersecurity world and what I want to achieve through what I write is to keep you curious too!
