CHEN PR Client Coverage Showcase—Part One

Cyber Security, Entrepreneurs, High Technology, Innovation, Public Relations, Technology Posted Aug 19, 2021 by Kayla Krause

With the first half of 2021 behind us, we can safely say it’s shaping up to be a landmark year in the realms of cybersecurity and high technology. During this time, we’ve worked closely alongside our clients so they could provide their impactful voices throughout the coverage of these paradigm-shifting events. In this blog post, we’ll break down some of the significant cybersecurity and tech events over the first six months of the year and share how our clients provided expert commentary on the latest threats, disclosed impactful vulnerabilities and new security research, and participated in diversity discussions for this rapidly expanding industry.

 

Drum roll please….

 

January:

  • Joker’s Stash closed its doors. One of the largest underground shops for selling stolen credit card and identity data announced it would shut down, effective mid-February 2021. This news came after a turbulent year for the major cybercrime store, and just weeks after U.S. and European authorities seized a number of its servers. In Brian Krebs’ coverage of the announcement on his blog Krebs on Security, he leveraged research provided by Intel 471 that shed light on the possible motivations and circumstances behind the announcement.

 

February:

  • Oldsmar water supply cyberattack. Following a neutralized cyberattack designed to remotely poison Oldsmar, Florida’s water supply, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned operators of other plants to take risk mitigation steps, and to be on the lookout for hackers attempting to exploit remote access software and outdated operating systems. Intel 471’s report on SCADA systems access being sold on the dark web was quoted in BankInfoSecurity’s coverage of the incident. Verve Industrial was quoted in SecurityWeek, advising that Oldsmar was not the first attack of this nature. Furthermore, facility operators are in a defensible position, and should double down on security basics.

 

March:

  • International Women’s Day. Celebrated annually on March 8, CHEN PR arranged a video panel with TechStrong TV for female cybersecurity leaders including Devo’s Jill Orhun and Digital Guardian’s Debra Danielson to discuss their experiences in the industry and how more diversity must be encouraged to bring in new ideas and prevent stagnation of technological progress.

 

May:

  • World Password Day: Observed annually since 2013, World Password Day is intended to promote better password habits. In a byline written for SC Media, Beyond Identity makes a convincing argument for organizations to replace the antiquated, insecure authentication method with fundamentally strong authentication alternatives available today.
  • The Colonial Pipeline cyberattack. The operation of the 5,500 mile-wide fuel pipeline running from Texas to New Jersey was temporarily halted as the result of a ransomware attack by the Darkside ransomware group. Verve Industrial’s explanation of IT systems’ vital role in the operation of industrial organizations was mentioned in Dark Reading’s coverage of the event. In the aftermath of the Colonial attack, Intel 471 was quoted in Bloomberg discussing the apparent shutdown of the Darkside ransomware group. When the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was later tasked with overseeing the security of gas and oil pipelines, Verve Industrial told SC Media that the strategy was insufficient.
  • President Biden signs a cybersecurity executive order. In reaction to a string of sweeping cybersecurity attacks affecting the country, President Biden signed an executive order on May 12 in a bid to improve the federal government’s cyber defenses over the span of several years. Devo conversed with FCW about the first deadline, which included policy recommendations for event logging and data retention, along with its cost.
  • Trends: Executive hires. During the pandemic, we’ve seen a common trend across all industries where folks are making a change in careers or moving to different companies. Bishop Fox hired four new executives in the month of May, including; AVP of Consulting Managed Services Tony Needler; VP of Team People MJ Porcello; CMO Julie Albright; and SVP and GM of Consulting Patty Wright.

 

June:

  • Personal transportation, post-Covid. With the meteoric rise of remote work adoption across a multitude of industries, workforces are finding they are no longer bound to certain geographic locations, and can trade urban living with environments more suitable for their lifestyles. In doing so, the automobile industry is undergoing a paradigm shift to accommodate such individuals in an eco-friendly manner with hybrid and all-electric cars. The development timeline for more efficient and powerful batteries will dictate the rate of this paradigm shift. To that end, Hartford Business reported that Cadenza, an advanced battery production company, has partnered with UConn to conduct specialized materials analysis and synthesis for use in lithium-ion-based energy storage systems, with the goal of large-scale production.

 

We’ll share more the next half of the year so stay tuned for Part Two!