Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery , Cybercrime , Cybercrime as-a-service

ISMG Editors: Are Hacktivists the New Resistance Fighters?

Discussion Also Considers Impact of Conti Gang Data Leak Anna Delaney (annamadeline) • March 4, 2022

Clockwise, from top left: Tony Morbin, Anna Delaney, Tom Field and Rashmi Ramesh

In the latest weekly update, four editors at Information Security Media Group discuss important cybersecurity issues, including the accelerating invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its potential short- and long-term impact on the cybersecurity industry; whether hacktivists are the new resistance fighters and the dangers that might trigger; and how a data leak may help researchers track and fight the Conti ransomware gang and its affiliates.

The editors - Tony Morbin, executive news editor, EU; Anna Delaney, director, productions; Tom Field, vice president, editorial; and Rashmi Ramesh, senior subeditor, global news desk - discuss:

Key takeaways from an interview with Cybereason CSO Sam Curry, who considers the potential blowback if the West strikes Russia in retaliation for the escalating invasion of Ukraine and how security leaders should prepare for heightened cyber incidents;
Why, contrary to predictions, we have not seen Russia launch full-scale cyberattacks on the West as of yet and the potential long-term effects of Russia's invasion on the cybersecurity industry;
How ransomware gangs are not immune to the international crisis after it was revealed that a Ukrainian cybersecurity researcher leaked sensitive data that came from the internal systems of the Conti ransomware gang after it had expressed support for Russia.

The ISMG Editors' Panel runs weekly. Don't miss our previous installments, including the Feb. 18 edition discussing ransomware updates - the bad and the ugly - and the Feb. 25 edition discussing U.S. government cybersecurity updates with former federal CISO Grant Schneider.