Ransomware has become a global plague costing organizations billions worldwide. It has moved from a single user-infection model to a network-wide infection model, recently bringing many sophisticated organizations to their knees. In the first half of this interactive discussion we will dive deep into the ransomware attack chain, examining how attackers leverage blind spots in the traditional ‘layered defense’ model to setup and execute undetected, leaving security teams scrambling to keep up and without quick answers when ransomware strikes. In the second half, we’ll review the rise of automated big data analytics – how organizations are utilizing continuous analysis of good, bad and unknown events in the environment to break the attack chain ransomware requires to execute.
Sean Earhard heads Cisco’s Advanced Threat Solutions team for Canada, working with organizations to design and build strategies to secure their networks and users from today’s Advanced Threats. Prior to Cisco, Mr. Earhard worked with large accounts for Symantec in Toronto and Sophos in Chicago—adding to his wealth of experience from working in thirty-six countries over the past two decades. He has been a speaker at many industry events including SecTor, InfraGard, ISC2 and Cisco’s national ‘Connect’ seminar series.