{"id":19552,"date":"2022-01-13T09:36:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T09:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/easydmarc.com\/blog\/?p=19552"},"modified":"2026-01-20T13:09:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:09:05","slug":"2021-in-email-security-news-round-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/easydmarc.com\/blog\/2021-in-email-security-news-round-up\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 in Email Security: News Round-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to an <\/span>article in Infosecurity Magazine<\/span><\/a>, cybercrime costs businesses about $1.79 million per minute. No doubt, this number is growing, and the most vulnerable point continues to be <\/span>email cyber security<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

While <\/span>email security companies<\/b> create products and services for more sophisticated protection levels, hackers continue to find and exploit vulnerabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve decided to look back at 2021 and collect the most significant attacks, news stories, and developments in a brief year-end recap.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ransomware Attacks Impact Non-IT Industries<\/b><\/h2>\n

When we talk about cybersecurity, we might give way to the fallacy that only IT companies become prey to social engineering and ransomware attacks. For example, it seems counterintuitive to put the words \u201cemail cyber security failure\u201d and \u201cfuel shortages\u201d in one sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, we\u2019re in an era where other industries and ecosystems have become dependent on cybersecurity, good password hygiene, and cyberattack awareness. Governments, infrastructure providers, public organizations, and private companies possess large databases and are all vulnerable to cyberattacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a few news stories to make headlines during 2021:<\/span><\/p>\n

Colonial Pipeline Complete Shutdown<\/b><\/h3>\n

No matter the size of the organization, enforcing <\/span>guidelines for secure use of email<\/b> and password hygiene should be a priority. A single leaked password led to hackers accessing the Colonial Pipeline network and <\/span>holding the system hostage<\/span><\/a> for over five days.<\/span><\/p>\n

The senior vice president of Mandiant, the security firm tasked to disseminate the situation, mentions that the leak happened when an employee used a VPN account to access company networks remotely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the login credentials to the account were found in a leaked database on the dark web, the exact way hackers obtained it isn\u2019t clear and might never be revealed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colonial Pipeline had to pay a ransom of $4.4 million to recover 100 GB of stolen data.<\/span><\/p>\n

ACER Hit By the Largest-Known Ransom Demand<\/b><\/h3>\n

In March 2021, the Taiwanese computer manufacturer, ACER, was hit by a $50 million ransom demand. The attack was carried out by the REvil hacker group, who allegedly accessed ACER\u2019s system via a Microsoft Exchange server vulnerability.<\/span><\/p>\n

The attackers proposed a deadline for the ransom payment. If not paid in time, the ransom was going to double.<\/span><\/p>\n

The locked and leaked files included documents and spreadsheets of a sensitive financial nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other ransomware attacks of 2021 covered industries like food processing (JBS America), sports (NBA), insurance (AXA), chemical distribution (Brenntag), and many more.<\/span><\/p>\n

These incidents highlight a few things non-IT companies need to face future threats:<\/span><\/p>\n