October 2019
Say Goodbye to Skype
Skype for Business Online has announced its retirement in the summer of 2021.
After July 31, 2021, the Skype for Business Online service will no longer be accessible or supported. Current users will not experience any change in their service and will be able to continue adding users as needed. In September of this year, all new Office 365 customers will be onboarded directly to Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft announced the retirement after seeing how Microsoft Teams has become the core communications client for Office 365. Microsoft Teams is a hub for teamwork allowing users to communicate more effectively with group chat, online meetings, and web conferencing. There is also the ability to collaborate on files with built-in Office 365 apps, as well as customization options for your personal workspace with Microsoft and other third-party apps.
As expected Microsoft Teams also provides end-to-end security, administrative control, and compliance. To learn more details around planning your upgrade to Teams, visit here.
Threat Spotlight
Sodinokibi ransomware is hardly three months old yet well known among cybersecurity professionals. Also known as Sodin and REvil, the ransomware has an apparent connection with the infamous, but now defunct, GandCrab ransomware.
Sodinokibi is a Ransomware as a Service (RaaS), like GandCrab, but believed to be more advanced. The threat has been equally targeting businesses and consumers since around May. Towards the end of May, the threat actors behind GandCrab announced their retirement, though many expressed skepticism over whether the team would truly walk away from their successful money-making scheme. It appears the group reemerged putting a spin on an old product with the introduction of the new Sodinokibi product. This ransomware is following an affiliate revenue system, which allows other cybercriminals to spread it through several vectors.
To learn more about the attack methods, infection symptoms, and how to protect your system, visit here.
Don’t Pay The Ransom
Europol, the European Union’s police agency, is celebrating the third anniversary of its No More Ransom initiative. The public-private partnership has helped over 200,000 ransomware victims recover their files with freely available online tools instead of paying a cryptocurrency ransom to hackers. The tools are available to everyone, and though nearly 10% of the website traffic came from the United States over the past three years, U.S. law enforcement has remained quiet about promoting alternatives to ransom payment. The F.B.I. has struggled to send a clear message to ransomware victims that victims should not pay ransom. Making ransomware unprofitable is effectively the only way to stop these criminals. Unfortunately the lack of public awareness around decryption tools available, and without law enforcement publicizing their existence, victims are often left feeling like the only choice is to pay the ransom, effectively keeping cybercriminals in business. To learn more about how Europol is promoting No More Ransom tools, and what the F.B.I. could potentially do to spread awareness in the U.S., visit here.
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