E-Business
Remote Desktop Protocol Attacks Surge by 241 Percent in 2020
Due to remote-work, employees started using Microsoft’s client software called remote desktop protocol (RDP), which is used to access corporate resources remotely.
Cybercriminals immediately saw this as an opportunity to hack into the company’s systems. Since the work-from-home shift happened almost overnight, it exposed many improperly configured and, in turn, unsafe RDP servers.
According to data presented by the Atlas VPN research team, RDP attacks rocketed by 241% in 2020. In 2019, RDP attacks stood at 969 million, but in the year 2020, threat actors carried out a staggering 3.3 billion attacks.
This data is provided by Kaspersky, one of the biggest antivirus companies globally that protects more than 400 million users and 250,000 corporate clients.
Data reveals that RDP attacks have been steadily increasing since the start of 2019, but the pandemic accelerated the growth dramatically, which led to 3.3 billion cyber attacks from January to November 2020.
A deeper dive into the data reveals that in 2019, hackers carried out an average of 88,180,802 attacks per month. However, in 2020, the average number of RDP attacks per month soared to 302,020,526.
Moreover, in 2019, threat actors executed most attacks in September, at 160,234,416. Yet, in November 2020, hackers pulled off 409,155,016 RDP cyber attacks, representing a 155% increase when comparing the maximum number of attacks per month in 2019 and 2020.
Analysis of the RDP attack landscape
Most of the RDP cyber attacks are brute-force attacks. Cybercriminals attempt to find the correct credential combination that will allow the attacker to access the company’s target computer.
Worth noting that they are not using random username and password combinations. Hackers have millions of username and password combinations that were leaked from other businesses.
As a matter of fact, Atlas VPN recently reported that there were 37 billion data records leaked in 2020, a growth of 140% year-over-year. Meaning, there is no shortage of credentials that hackers can try.
After stumbling upon the correct combination, a threat actor can move laterally within the organization’s infrastructure until they find what they are looking for, be it financial data, contact information, user data, or any other sensitive information.
Hackers usually have one of two goals in mind when they are carrying out these attacks.
First – they want to steal the data to sell it to an already existing buyer that ordered the attack or they will put it up for sale on the dark web. The targeted information might be an intellectual property that gives an organization it’s competitive edge in the industry or its customers’ data.
Second – after stealing the data, they will contact the company demanding a ransom payment. If the enterprise agrees to pay, then hackers will hand over the data back to the company and promise to hide the fact that the company was compromised, allowing the enterprise to preserve it’s reputation.
By putting all of this into place, we can see the full journey a hacker has to go through to reach his goal – which is usually financial profit. Let’s go over it step-by-step to get a clearer picture.
To start, hackers purchase millions of leaked credentials from their cybercriminal colleagues. Then, they use those username and password combinations to hack into the company’s computer that uses the remote desktop protocol (RDP). Now, they have access to sensitive information that they can use to turn into profit.
Many might know the dangers of data leaks and remote desktop attacks, but here, we wanted to explain how all of this falls into place to benefit the criminal.
All communities in Abia State are to be connected to Internet Service within the next 9 months, according to Dr. Alex Otti, state governor.
All communities in Abia State are to be connected to Internet Service within the next 9 months, according to Dr. Alex Otti, state governor.
Otti stated this at the Nnamdi Azikiwe State Secretariat premises at Umuahia, the state capital, while flagging off the first phase of the Umuahia Dedicated Internet Access/Wide Area Network And Managed Network Services Project (Project), saying that it promises to re-engineer efficiency and flexibility in operations and interactions within and amongst institutions, enhance policy execution, and engender a culture of outcome-oriented competition amongst civil servants.
The Project is being handled by iPNX, a major internet service provider.
At the ceremony, Otti, said the project includes distributing high-performance digital tools, laying fibre optic cables in public institutions, and installing infrastructure for high-speed data transmission.
He added that the initiative focuses on improving leadership efficiency, empowering civil servants with digital tools, and enhancing service delivery.
Transitioning to digital platforms would streamline government processes, enable faster communication among Ministries, departments, and Areas (MDAs), and improve engagement with development partners and the global community.
The governor also announced a mandatory digital literacy requirement for civil servants, making proficiency in technology essential for career growth.
Assuring that while the government would provide training, those unwilling to embrace technology risk becoming uncompetitive in the evolving civil service structure.
Plans are underway to expand digital access across Abia, with an agreement already in place to lay fiber optic cables in Aba, Umuahia, and Ohafia.
Otti directed Mr. Gerald Ilukwe, chief information officer to ensure that within nine months, every community in Abia must have reliable network service, enabling businesses to thrive virtually.
The Governor urged the people of Abia to embrace technology as a tool for empowerment rather than a replacement for human roles as the use of technology ought to be on enhancing service delivery and economic development, as well as keeping human decision-making at the core of governance.
The commencement of the initiative marks a major milestone in Abia’s journey towards a fully digital economy.
Ilukwe, described the project as a critical foundation for a digital government, emphasising its role in modernising service delivery.
Ilukwe said Phase I of the initiative prioritises multi-tenant buildings and complexes housing multiple MDAs and assured that MDAs not included in this phase would be covered in subsequent stages.
“Even as we are rounding off this phase, we are already preparing for the next, by the end of this service year, the entire government offices in Umuahia will be interconnected on a single network,” Ilukwe said.
Mr Ejovi Aror, group managing director, ipNX, expressed gratitude to Gov. Alex Otti for the opportunity to be part of the state’s digital transformation journey.
“This partnership signals the beginning of a new chapter in the journey towards building a digitally connected, technologically advanced, and economically empowered Abia State,” Aror said.
Visa, global payment services giant, has announced plans to establish a data centre infrastructure in Nigeria.
Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe and Vice-President Kashim Shettima
According to a statement by Stanley Nkwocha, senior special assistant to the president on media and communications (office of the vice-president) on Friday, Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, spoke during a courtesy visit to Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the presidential villa in Abuja.
“This is in addition to its investments of over $1 billion in the country, including a substantial technological partnership with @moniepoint to foster digital payment solutions, a $200 million investment in Interswitch, and a partnership with @thriveagric to empower smallholder farmers and enhance food security in Nigeria,” the statement reads.
During the meeting, Torre said the plan to establish the data centre infrastructure aims to bring new technologies into the Nigerian market that would bolster the nation’s growing digital economy.
“Visa has been making investments and will continue to make these investments in Nigeria,” he said.
Responding, Shettima welcomed Visa’s expansion efforts, assuring the delegation that the partnership between Visa and the Nigerian government would continue to flourish.
The vice-president commended the company for investing in ThriveAgric, noting that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is deeply committed to repositioning the agriculture sector, which remains a top priority in its 8-point agenda.
“Nigeria is where the action is. Of the 10 fintechs in Africa, about eight are in Nigeria, with moniepoint as the newest addition,” Shettima said.
“Agriculture is key to the 8-point agenda of the present administration. President @officialABAT is really keen on repositioning the agriculture industry here, and we have to invest in technology, we have to invest in modernisation.”
On January 23, Moniepoint, a Nigerian fintech company, announced it secured investment from Visa to support the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe and Vice-President Kashim Shettima
Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has approved N242.8m for the procurement of a Microsoft 365 licence for its Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) as part of efforts to digitise the service’s operations.
Mr Michael Ango, acting executive chairman of FCT-IRS, disclosed this after the FCT Executive Committee meeting chaired by Mr Nyesom Wike, the minister of FCTA, in Abuja on Wednesday.
Ango said that the FCTA was making significant investments in technology to enhance revenue generation and collection.
“So, this is also one of those investments in technology that the FCT is undertaking.
“The licence, if procured, will enhance our ability to move most of our manual processes into automated processes.
“It will enhance our ability to communicate within our offices,” he said.
The executive chairman added that the move would also reduce the use of paper and ensure better record-keeping through the storage of information and documents in the cloud.
According to him, “The licence will essentially enhance our operations and assist us in generating revenue for the development of the FCT under Wike’s leadership.”
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