Ransomware hacks are going from bad to worse and ramping up during a new wave of work from home mandates among businesses across the nation. Garmin, a company used by the general public for GPS fitness tracking faced a ransomware attack that took down its apps, customer service infrastructure, and most of its other services. The ransom payment demanded was $10 Million. The smartwatch and other wearables that Garmin offers collect sensitive data including an individual’s fitness, their location, and their common whereabouts. Although this ransomware attack is not believed to have encrypted this sensitive information, it is alarming to see this corporation is being targeted. Another concern to note is that Garmin GPS systems are commonly used in U.S. military technology. A military ship would rely on this technology if they were to be lost at sea, etc. The goal of this specific ransomware attack was to encrypt data and cripple Garmin’s IT infrastructure. In a release from Vice, Scott-Railton has words on the incident, “I think everyone would tell you that the tempo of attacks is going up, and that this is also a period of time where IT teams are uniquely stretched and large chunks of the workforce are operating remotely…especially when it comes to things like attacks that focus on targeting specific users.”
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References:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2020/07/27/garmin-hacks-10m-ransom-payment-10m-tax-deduction/#7f1b542112c5https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/5dzkd5/the-garmin-ransomware-hack-is-horrifying
