Earlier this month, Russian-linked cybercriminal organization, REvil, launched the single biggest global ransomware attack on record. The breach infected thousands of victims in more than 17 countries and demanded $70 million in cryptocurrency to unscramble all the infected machines. What made this breach especially noteworthy was the specific conduit the criminals used to gain access to the victims: Kaseya VSA (virtual systems/server administrator), a remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution. RMM solutions are commonly used by managed services providers (MSPs) and managed security services providers (MSSPs) alike. What makes them particularly attractive to cybercriminals is that each MSP/MSSP breach has an enormous trickle-down effect. For example, CBS News reported that Swedish grocery chain Coop had to close most of its 800 stores for multiple days because the attack crippled their cash register software supplier. Thus, not only do these “one-to-many” attacks lead to more victims in a shorter period, but they also lead to bigger payoffs for the attackers.
David Hart, President and Chief Operating Officer of Presidio is responsible for sales and technology strategy and execution, emerging businesses development, alliances and sourcing, internal IT and our leasing arm – Presidio Technology Capital. He has served on the advisory boards of several world class technology innovators such as Cisco, Dell Technologies, Palo Alto Networks and Intel. Prior to his current role, Dave served as Chief Technology Officer. He joined Presidio in 2005 when the company acquired Networked Information Systems (NIS), a high growth IT systems integrator, where he led engineering, professional and managed services from its founding in 2000. Prior to NIS, Dave was Vice President of Engineering at Aztec Technology Partners (Nasdaq: AZTC) and at its predecessor, Bay State Computer Group. He holds a BS in Industrial Technology and a MS in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.