Tokio Marine HCC Intelligence Lead Says SMBs Face Scaled Ransomware Attacks

Summary

Tokio Marine HCC’s Alex Bovicelli says ransomware actors target SMBs at scale, often using brute force against SSL VPNs and other services. He recommends threat modeling, MFA, protected admin access and account lockout policies.

Key points

• Alex Bovicelli says security teams should prioritize threats likely to affect their own environments rather than relying primarily on CVSS scores or generic threat news.
• He recommends identifying and securing initial access vectors, using threat intelligence and partner insights to alert organizations to relevant risks.
• Bovicelli says SMBs are increasingly targeted by large-scale ransomware campaigns that may receive little news coverage.
• He says attackers use optimized brute-force tools against SSL VPNs and other services to find initial access opportunities.
• Bovicelli recommends MFA, securing administrative account access and account lockout policies; he estimates these measures could reduce more than 90% of risk to global SMBs.

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