1 00:00:20,104 --> 00:00:23,254 it looks like password managers may no longer be an option. 2 00:00:23,914 --> 00:00:26,404 I hate to say, I told you so, but. 3 00:00:26,404 --> 00:00:28,954 But that's got to the point of this episode. 4 00:00:29,584 --> 00:00:35,164 We look first at the latest ransomware report from Veeam and there's some great 5 00:00:35,164 --> 00:00:37,354 lessons and some scary lessons there. 6 00:00:37,564 --> 00:00:42,304 And then also we talk about what cyber insurance companies are up to and 7 00:00:42,304 --> 00:00:44,104 what that means for password managers. 8 00:00:44,494 --> 00:00:46,564 I know you're going to enjoy this episode. 9 00:00:48,180 --> 00:00:51,210 W. Curtis Preston: hi, and welcome to Backup Central's Restore all podcast 10 00:00:51,210 --> 00:00:54,000 Army host w Curtis Preston, a k a, Mr. 11 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:54,600 Backup. 12 00:00:55,050 --> 00:00:58,420 And I have with me and my heatstroke counselor Prasanna 13 00:00:58,420 --> 00:01:00,280 Malaiyandi how's it going? 14 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:01,520 Prasanna Malaiyandi? 15 00:01:01,725 --> 00:01:04,335 Prasanna Malaiyandi: I'm doing well Curtis, and I'm glad we're able to 16 00:01:04,335 --> 00:01:08,475 record this video instead of you being stuck in a hospital or worse. 17 00:01:08,475 --> 00:01:10,215 So there is that 18 00:01:11,235 --> 00:01:11,775 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah. 19 00:01:11,775 --> 00:01:13,185 You know, it's funny. 20 00:01:13,395 --> 00:01:21,075 Um, that was not a smart move on my part, the event to which I'm referring, uh, so 21 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:22,815 this was, what was this, two days ago? 22 00:01:22,985 --> 00:01:23,405 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Sunday. 23 00:01:24,795 --> 00:01:25,695 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah, yeah. 24 00:01:25,695 --> 00:01:26,715 Two days ago. 25 00:01:26,835 --> 00:01:30,945 Today I decided to go for a walk. 26 00:01:31,965 --> 00:01:34,815 You know, I'm, I'm, I'm by myself right now. 27 00:01:34,815 --> 00:01:35,505 The, the. 28 00:01:36,210 --> 00:01:38,970 The last batch of the kids have moved out. 29 00:01:38,970 --> 00:01:43,050 My wife's down in San Diego with her mom at the moment, and so I was like, 30 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:45,900 I'm gonna go for a walk on the beach. 31 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:52,680 I'm gonna bring a a towel to like lay down on, but I'm not gonna 32 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:59,130 bring any water and I'm not gonna like plan how far I'm gonna walk. 33 00:02:00,075 --> 00:02:01,605 Prasanna Malaiyandi: I'm not gonna bring a hat. 34 00:02:01,860 --> 00:02:03,660 W. Curtis Preston: I'm not gonna bring a hat. 35 00:02:04,695 --> 00:02:09,825 With my bald spot back there, not gonna bring a hat and I'm just gonna 36 00:02:09,825 --> 00:02:15,525 walk one direction and I'm gonna keep walking until I feel like turning 37 00:02:15,525 --> 00:02:17,985 around and then I'll walk back. 38 00:02:19,245 --> 00:02:29,085 Uh, it didn't go well and I was, I was, uh, I, you know, depending 39 00:02:29,085 --> 00:02:32,385 on which, which website you looked at, I was somewhere between. 40 00:02:33,075 --> 00:02:34,515 Heat exhaustion and heat stroke. 41 00:02:34,545 --> 00:02:40,275 'cause I did have like, spotted, spotted, that's not worth spotted modeled. 42 00:02:40,275 --> 00:02:42,735 That was a mixture of modeled and spotted skin. 43 00:02:43,245 --> 00:02:48,165 Um, uh, and uh, I wasn't sweating that much. 44 00:02:48,165 --> 00:02:49,965 I was kind of dry. 45 00:02:49,995 --> 00:02:52,905 That's the sign, that's the true sign of, of heatstroke is 46 00:02:52,905 --> 00:02:53,925 if you're no longer sweating. 47 00:02:54,525 --> 00:02:55,185 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Oh really? 48 00:02:55,575 --> 00:02:56,295 W. Curtis Preston: yeah, yeah. 49 00:02:56,295 --> 00:02:59,925 If you're not, if your, if your skin is dry, um, 50 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:01,260 Prasanna Malaiyandi: That means you have no moisture, 51 00:03:02,145 --> 00:03:03,135 W. Curtis Preston: You have no moisture left. 52 00:03:03,135 --> 00:03:06,195 Your body has done everything it could to save you and it's given up. 53 00:03:06,705 --> 00:03:09,045 Um, or it has no, it has no moisture left to use. 54 00:03:09,165 --> 00:03:09,705 Um, 55 00:03:10,005 --> 00:03:10,605 I don't think I was 56 00:03:10,650 --> 00:03:10,920 Prasanna Malaiyandi: you should 57 00:03:11,085 --> 00:03:12,495 W. Curtis Preston: I was, go ahead. 58 00:03:12,510 --> 00:03:12,850 Prasanna Malaiyandi: go ahead. 59 00:03:13,845 --> 00:03:15,225 W. Curtis Preston: Well, I was just saying I don't think I was quite 60 00:03:15,225 --> 00:03:19,035 there, but I was, I was definitely approaching that when I approached 61 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:23,565 the lifeguard tower and I said, I'm gonna borrow some of your shade. 62 00:03:24,345 --> 00:03:25,515 And he's like, what? 63 00:03:25,815 --> 00:03:29,085 And I'm like, I'm gonna lay down right over here. 64 00:03:29,955 --> 00:03:30,915 He's like, are you okay? 65 00:03:30,915 --> 00:03:32,685 And I'm like, I don't think so. 66 00:03:33,165 --> 00:03:37,095 Um, and I'm like, I was like, I think I over exerted myself. 67 00:03:37,095 --> 00:03:40,485 And then I laid down underneath the sun, well, underneath the shade. 68 00:03:40,905 --> 00:03:42,915 And uh, that's when I called you. 69 00:03:42,915 --> 00:03:44,805 'cause I was a little, I was a little freaked out. 70 00:03:45,225 --> 00:03:45,705 I was like, 71 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:47,400 Prasanna Malaiyandi: you were fine though. 72 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:49,260 Like you weren't super delirious, which is 73 00:03:49,635 --> 00:03:49,995 W. Curtis Preston: yeah. 74 00:03:50,365 --> 00:03:54,855 So I wasn't, I think your exact words were, I was no weirder than normal. 75 00:03:55,095 --> 00:03:56,355 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yeah, exactly. 76 00:03:56,685 --> 00:04:02,655 But it also says, right, if that walk sort of you got to the point 77 00:04:02,660 --> 00:04:05,865 of dry skin, you're probably not drinking enough fluids during the day. 78 00:04:05,870 --> 00:04:06,375 Curtis, 79 00:04:07,590 --> 00:04:11,100 W. Curtis Preston: Um, you know, is beer a fluid? 80 00:04:11,670 --> 00:04:12,090 Beer is, 81 00:04:14,070 --> 00:04:14,610 no, it wasn't. 82 00:04:14,610 --> 00:04:15,810 It wasn't, it wasn't that. 83 00:04:15,810 --> 00:04:16,410 It wasn't that. 84 00:04:16,620 --> 00:04:21,510 I just, I just, the thing is when I go for walks with my wife, right? 85 00:04:21,690 --> 00:04:24,450 She's the one who's like, make sure you bring your hat. 86 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:26,070 Let's make sure we get some water. 87 00:04:26,385 --> 00:04:28,275 And, and she wasn't here. 88 00:04:28,365 --> 00:04:31,065 And so I just went out like a, like a 89 00:04:31,275 --> 00:04:34,995 Prasanna Malaiyandi: but, but how long have you and your wife been married? 90 00:04:35,805 --> 00:04:38,085 W. Curtis Preston: 30 coming up on 35 years. 91 00:04:38,475 --> 00:04:38,955 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Okay. 92 00:04:39,105 --> 00:04:42,555 And you don't have her voice in your head at this point. 93 00:04:42,555 --> 00:04:44,745 35 years later being 94 00:04:45,075 --> 00:04:46,965 W. Curtis Preston: I do, I do, trust me. 95 00:04:47,235 --> 00:04:50,055 But you know, when it came, you know, when it came in, And this 96 00:04:50,055 --> 00:04:55,815 time was when I got, once I got too hot, that's when the voice came in. 97 00:04:55,875 --> 00:04:58,095 It was like, why didn't you bring water? 98 00:04:58,095 --> 00:05:00,885 Why didn't you bring that, why didn't you bring that? 99 00:05:01,905 --> 00:05:03,285 Uh, yeah. 100 00:05:03,345 --> 00:05:05,805 So, well, thanks for being there. 101 00:05:05,805 --> 00:05:06,385 Prasanna. 102 00:05:06,405 --> 00:05:09,315 When I FaceTimed you, did you notice, did you notice that it was, 103 00:05:09,405 --> 00:05:10,785 you were like, why is he FaceTiming 104 00:05:10,785 --> 00:05:11,055 me? 105 00:05:11,385 --> 00:05:12,796 'cause I don't normally FaceTime you. 106 00:05:12,825 --> 00:05:13,155 Prasanna Malaiyandi: yeah. 107 00:05:13,215 --> 00:05:13,905 No, that's why I 108 00:05:13,995 --> 00:05:14,265 W. Curtis Preston: I was 109 00:05:14,265 --> 00:05:18,300 lying flat on the beach and I was like, Uh, 110 00:05:18,405 --> 00:05:19,935 Prasanna Malaiyandi: am I guess where I'm at? 111 00:05:20,235 --> 00:05:20,625 Yeah. 112 00:05:20,670 --> 00:05:21,060 W. Curtis Preston: Guess? 113 00:05:21,060 --> 00:05:21,510 That's right. 114 00:05:21,510 --> 00:05:22,320 Guess where I'm at? 115 00:05:23,310 --> 00:05:23,760 Yeah. 116 00:05:23,825 --> 00:05:26,280 Prasanna Malaiyandi: I, I, and so here's the other thing I think our listeners 117 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:32,130 would appreciate or find funny is, so you brought not one towel, but two towels, 118 00:05:32,580 --> 00:05:37,170 and yet you ended up just sitting on the sand without laying out any towels. 119 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:39,900 W. Curtis Preston: That again, shows you the level of exhaustion 120 00:05:39,900 --> 00:05:43,050 that I had because I, I had those towel, I had like a big towel. 121 00:05:43,220 --> 00:05:43,340 I. 122 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:48,270 And then like a regular towel and I just plopped them down on the sand 123 00:05:48,330 --> 00:05:53,010 and then I plopped down on the sand and then I climbed into my brand new 124 00:05:53,015 --> 00:05:56,010 Tesla with sand all over my body. 125 00:05:57,750 --> 00:05:58,440 Needing to, 126 00:05:58,785 --> 00:06:00,415 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Did you at least have water in the car or no? 127 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:03,630 W. Curtis Preston: no, I had to drive. 128 00:06:03,690 --> 00:06:06,420 And where I was at, I had to drive away to get to water. 129 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,290 'cause I was at a state park and there weren't any like vending 130 00:06:10,290 --> 00:06:11,550 machines in the state park. 131 00:06:12,390 --> 00:06:16,320 And I had to drive, uh, like I had to drive away. 132 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:20,520 I did stop at the first rest area that had, that had water, and I 133 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,010 got a water and a, and a Gatorade. 134 00:06:23,490 --> 00:06:25,770 Um, and then I was functional. 135 00:06:29,130 --> 00:06:32,460 I did use the, uh, the Tesla's feature of turning on the air 136 00:06:32,460 --> 00:06:33,960 conditioning before I got to the car. 137 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:37,650 I was like, I want this to be nice and cool when I get there. 138 00:06:37,740 --> 00:06:38,250 But anyway. 139 00:06:39,270 --> 00:06:41,310 So, thanks for being there for 140 00:06:41,310 --> 00:06:41,490 me, 141 00:06:41,550 --> 00:06:44,280 Prasanna Malaiyandi: glad you survived, and I'm glad we're able to continue 142 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:47,100 bringing awesome content to our listeners. 143 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,290 W. Curtis Preston: You're glad that me and the podcast aren't dead. 144 00:06:52,710 --> 00:06:54,600 Um, yeah. 145 00:06:54,690 --> 00:06:59,820 So, um, so we're gonna, we're gonna talk this, I, I called the, you know, when 146 00:06:59,820 --> 00:07:02,790 I, when I, when you, when you, when I said this to you, you were like, what? 147 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,060 But this is, I think this is an I told you so episode. 148 00:07:06,750 --> 00:07:11,580 Because we, you know, we were looking in, um, just looking in cybersecurity 149 00:07:11,580 --> 00:07:17,070 news, backup, security news, and you found a couple of articles. 150 00:07:17,070 --> 00:07:23,610 I found a couple of articles and they kind of all point to the same thing. 151 00:07:23,615 --> 00:07:26,370 And that is that we were right. 152 00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:35,610 We've been trying to tell people to do some stuff, to take care of some things. 153 00:07:36,450 --> 00:07:41,250 You know, once again, um, you know, we have, we have the fo 154 00:07:41,250 --> 00:07:43,830 we have a, a couple things here. 155 00:07:43,860 --> 00:07:52,650 One is this, uh, 2023 Global Report of Ransomware, ransomware Trends. 156 00:07:52,655 --> 00:07:53,580 That's a tongue twister. 157 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:54,300 Ransomware 158 00:07:54,470 --> 00:07:54,590 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Hmm. 159 00:07:55,410 --> 00:07:59,250 W. Curtis Preston: trends, um, which comes from the Data Protection 160 00:07:59,250 --> 00:08:01,590 Trends report from 2023 from Veeam. 161 00:08:02,340 --> 00:08:05,010 Um, our friends over there at Veeam. 162 00:08:05,610 --> 00:08:12,420 Then also, um, you know, an interesting story from, uh, where 163 00:08:12,420 --> 00:08:16,620 was that regarding the strengthening passwords from bleeping computer? 164 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:22,680 Um, about the value, about an interesting, I'm, I'm gonna say 165 00:08:23,220 --> 00:08:26,100 unexpected value of password managers. 166 00:08:26,820 --> 00:08:28,590 Um, yeah. 167 00:08:29,250 --> 00:08:30,840 Uh, which one do you think we should start with? 168 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:32,430 You wanna start with the ransomware trends? 169 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:34,140 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Let's talk about the ransomware trends. 170 00:08:34,710 --> 00:08:35,310 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah. 171 00:08:35,430 --> 00:08:39,030 Um, and you can get this report yourself. 172 00:08:39,060 --> 00:08:43,350 Uh, just Google the data Protection Trends report from Veeam. 173 00:08:43,590 --> 00:08:48,120 Uh, and they have a, they have a lot of, um, it's a lot of 174 00:08:48,540 --> 00:08:50,430 really interesting things here. 175 00:08:50,550 --> 00:08:56,820 Um, the, I, I think the biggest number that pops out here, I mean, 176 00:08:56,820 --> 00:08:57,870 these are always interesting. 177 00:08:57,870 --> 00:08:58,770 I think I know when. 178 00:08:59,355 --> 00:09:02,835 When, uh, when I used to work at Druva, we would do a similar report. 179 00:09:03,165 --> 00:09:09,795 Uh, and I know that a couple years ago the number we used was, it was around 50% of 180 00:09:09,795 --> 00:09:16,035 people that, um, suffered a cybersecurity attack in the previous year, and their 181 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:17,805 number is significantly higher than that. 182 00:09:17,805 --> 00:09:21,075 By the way, I'll, I'll remind, uh, reminded me to do our disclaimer. 183 00:09:21,495 --> 00:09:23,655 Um, you and I work for different companies. 184 00:09:24,315 --> 00:09:28,845 Uh, and um, although technically at this exact moment you work for company 185 00:09:28,845 --> 00:09:35,265 and I'm waiting to work for a company, um, but, um, and, uh, but we're not 186 00:09:35,265 --> 00:09:36,855 representing the companies you work for. 187 00:09:36,855 --> 00:09:42,135 We we're, we're independent as an in independent podcast and, uh, you 188 00:09:42,135 --> 00:09:47,145 know, the opinions that you here, our ours, And, uh, things like password 189 00:09:47,145 --> 00:09:52,455 managers are good, they may or may, may or may not represent our employers. 190 00:09:52,725 --> 00:09:53,685 And, uh, please rate us. 191 00:09:53,685 --> 00:09:57,765 Also, go to your favorite, uh, pod catcher and, uh, push the rate button. 192 00:09:57,765 --> 00:09:59,235 Give us some stars, give us some comments. 193 00:09:59,235 --> 00:10:00,225 We'd love the comments. 194 00:10:00,705 --> 00:10:03,945 And, uh, also if you'd like to join the conversation, reach out to 195 00:10:03,945 --> 00:10:06,495 me, uh, at WC Preston on Twitter. 196 00:10:06,855 --> 00:10:08,985 I am w Curtis Preston. 197 00:10:09,015 --> 00:10:09,495 On 198 00:10:09,545 --> 00:10:10,235 threads. 199 00:10:10,955 --> 00:10:13,115 Um, I wish them the best. 200 00:10:13,685 --> 00:10:20,315 And, uh, I am w curtisPreston@gmailandlinkedin.com 201 00:10:20,315 --> 00:10:22,085 slash in slash mr. 202 00:10:22,085 --> 00:10:22,535 Backup. 203 00:10:23,105 --> 00:10:25,115 If you can't find me via one of those, I don't know what to 204 00:10:25,115 --> 00:10:28,325 tell you, uh, then reach out. 205 00:10:28,415 --> 00:10:30,415 Uh, then you have to reach out to Prasanna. 206 00:10:31,365 --> 00:10:33,225 So let's go back to this, this report. 207 00:10:33,585 --> 00:10:40,785 So they're saying that that in this survey, that 85% of organizations 208 00:10:40,785 --> 00:10:44,205 suffered at least one cyber attack in the preceding 12 months. 209 00:10:44,655 --> 00:10:48,795 An increase they were saying from 76% in the prior year. 210 00:10:48,795 --> 00:10:53,295 And you know, and we saw, and I think I saw a number of companies that the year 211 00:10:53,295 --> 00:10:55,485 before that the number was closer to 50%. 212 00:10:56,295 --> 00:10:58,620 So they're saying like, 85%. 213 00:10:58,620 --> 00:11:00,630 I mean, that's, that's darn near a hundred. 214 00:11:02,190 --> 00:11:02,950 Uh, what do you think about that? 215 00:11:03,495 --> 00:11:06,435 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yeah, no, it's, I'm, so here's the thing, 216 00:11:06,435 --> 00:11:10,485 I'm not surprised because normally you don't hear about things. 217 00:11:10,485 --> 00:11:17,610 I think it also is, Organizations are always constantly being attacked, right? 218 00:11:18,030 --> 00:11:23,520 And I think it's just the severity of the attack is what could also matter. 219 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:29,940 So I think that's where, although this one is specifically ransomware threat, right? 220 00:11:30,020 --> 00:11:30,140 I. 221 00:11:30,210 --> 00:11:30,750 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah. 222 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:31,200 Yeah. 223 00:11:31,230 --> 00:11:38,640 So, so what I would, I, I'm, I'm having to extrapolate because I remember what we, 224 00:11:38,645 --> 00:11:45,030 the number that we used was that it was 50% of the companies had been successfully 225 00:11:45,030 --> 00:11:46,860 targeted by a ransomware attack. 226 00:11:46,950 --> 00:11:51,720 I, I'm assuming they must mean that here they don't say the successful. 227 00:11:52,260 --> 00:11:56,880 Um, part, but they're saying they suffered at least one ransomware attack. 228 00:11:57,180 --> 00:12:03,150 They must mean successful because if it's, if it's not successful, you 229 00:12:03,150 --> 00:12:04,680 know, it's not, it's not ransomware. 230 00:12:04,710 --> 00:12:07,110 I mean, you know, there, there has to be a ransom demand. 231 00:12:07,110 --> 00:12:07,230 Right. 232 00:12:07,275 --> 00:12:09,795 Prasanna Malaiyandi: well, and I also wonder if it's specifically like 233 00:12:09,795 --> 00:12:12,375 they mentioned, sorry, just reading through the words, right, they're 234 00:12:12,375 --> 00:12:14,715 mentioning just an attack, right. 235 00:12:14,715 --> 00:12:18,405 And I don't know if that's like a cybersecurity incident versus 236 00:12:18,410 --> 00:12:20,625 necessarily ransomware itself. 237 00:12:21,660 --> 00:12:23,040 W. Curtis Preston: Well, they actually used the word ransomware. 238 00:12:23,985 --> 00:12:24,105 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Okay. 239 00:12:24,630 --> 00:12:29,070 W. Curtis Preston: It, it said, suffered at least one ransomware attack in 2022. 240 00:12:30,090 --> 00:12:34,530 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Okay, well yeah, that's the end. 241 00:12:34,590 --> 00:12:35,130 You're right. 242 00:12:35,130 --> 00:12:36,990 That it could be a matter of yes. 243 00:12:36,990 --> 00:12:42,240 They probably, it may have been thwarted, right, and they were not successful. 244 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,990 But my guess is a good chunk of that is probably successful attacks, right? 245 00:12:46,835 --> 00:12:47,255 W. Curtis Preston: Mm-hmm. 246 00:12:49,125 --> 00:12:53,625 Yeah, I, um, that, I mean that, but, but that's, that's huge. 247 00:12:53,825 --> 00:12:55,965 I mean, that's basically almost everybody, right? 248 00:12:55,965 --> 00:12:56,835 85%. 249 00:12:57,315 --> 00:13:01,755 Uh, that's basically like, like I said, it's basically almost everybody. 250 00:13:02,220 --> 00:13:07,110 Which is why I think, you know, there's a second statistic, which, 251 00:13:07,170 --> 00:13:13,260 um, which is also interesting that 60% of organizations felt they need 252 00:13:13,260 --> 00:13:18,270 a significant or complete overhaul between their backup and cyber teams. 253 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:18,700 Um, 254 00:13:19,275 --> 00:13:21,165 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Oh yeah, we've talked about that so many 255 00:13:21,165 --> 00:13:24,105 times on the podcast when we've had guests on the podcast, right? 256 00:13:24,105 --> 00:13:28,845 Where they're like, yeah, these teams just need to talk more to each other 257 00:13:28,845 --> 00:13:36,885 because they are kind of dependent on each other and sort of are what 258 00:13:36,945 --> 00:13:42,645 the organization business relies on when things go up in smoke, right? 259 00:13:44,130 --> 00:13:45,120 W. Curtis Preston: Right, right. 260 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,600 Um, this was interesting here. 261 00:13:48,730 --> 00:13:54,210 Um, most common element of an incident response playbook is a good backup. 262 00:13:54,210 --> 00:13:55,860 Well, duh, right. 263 00:13:56,190 --> 00:14:02,400 Um, they put, uh, backup copies, you know, clean backup copies, and also 264 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,510 backup verification, which is something that, um, you know, Veeam is probably 265 00:14:06,510 --> 00:14:10,920 emphasizing because they were one of the first companies to offer that 266 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:13,170 as a, as a part of their product. 267 00:14:13,170 --> 00:14:16,170 Prasanna Malaiyandi: I'm reading an article in Info Security magazine 268 00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:21,120 published back in May by Kevin, I cannot spell your last name, I'm sorry. 269 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:27,030 It starts with a p, um, that he published called Backup Repositories, 270 00:14:27,030 --> 00:14:29,190 targeted 93% of Ransomware Attacks. 271 00:14:29,190 --> 00:14:32,490 And that was actually the stat I was gonna bring up, which is, yeah, 272 00:14:32,550 --> 00:14:35,970 they are targeting, and we've talked about this, right, Curtis, that. 273 00:14:36,585 --> 00:14:40,455 Threat actors realize that backups contain the ability for 274 00:14:40,455 --> 00:14:42,765 organizations to recover their data. 275 00:14:43,485 --> 00:14:47,955 And so it's a good point to not only destroy those backups, so a 276 00:14:47,955 --> 00:14:52,215 company is more likely to pay the ransomware, but it's also an amazing 277 00:14:52,215 --> 00:14:54,585 place to exfiltrate data from, right? 278 00:14:54,585 --> 00:14:57,705 All, everything in the organization is stored centrally. 279 00:14:58,665 --> 00:15:02,115 You don't need to go attack individual systems with different security levels 280 00:15:02,115 --> 00:15:05,475 and different security mechanisms, right? 281 00:15:05,475 --> 00:15:08,595 If you can attack the backup system and get in, then you now have access 282 00:15:08,595 --> 00:15:09,795 to all the data that's in there. 283 00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:16,530 So one of the things that they also talk about is sort of everyone thinks that, oh, 284 00:15:16,530 --> 00:15:21,330 I'll pay the ransom and that's what the people want, and I'll get my data back. 285 00:15:21,510 --> 00:15:26,670 And I know we've had Tony from Spectra come on, and there's a huge business 286 00:15:26,670 --> 00:15:28,200 around cyber insurance, right? 287 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,670 Where it's like, Hey, we will protect you or help. 288 00:15:32,220 --> 00:15:34,410 You pay off the ransom, right? 289 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,050 Uh, you give us premiums, we'll help you just like any other car 290 00:15:37,050 --> 00:15:38,700 insurance, house insurance, et cetera. 291 00:15:39,690 --> 00:15:40,110 Right? 292 00:15:40,170 --> 00:15:46,260 Um, and so 77% of ransoms were actually paid by insurance, but that it is 293 00:15:46,260 --> 00:15:48,300 becoming harder and more expensive. 294 00:15:48,750 --> 00:15:49,020 Right. 295 00:15:49,020 --> 00:15:53,250 And I know Curtis, I just shared an article with you as well about sort of 296 00:15:54,030 --> 00:15:59,610 how there's potential and bleeding over in the bleeping computer article, right. 297 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:01,050 About how. 298 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,550 You can try to lower your cyber insurance premiums by having stronger passwords. 299 00:16:06,990 --> 00:16:09,750 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah, you're, you're bleeding into our second part, dude. 300 00:16:10,050 --> 00:16:12,840 Prasanna Malaiyandi: I know, but this was like a perfect opportunity, right, because 301 00:16:12,845 --> 00:16:14,340 we're talking about cyber insurance. 302 00:16:14,820 --> 00:16:16,080 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 303 00:16:16,260 --> 00:16:20,700 The, um, yeah, I, you know, they showed, a bunch of people saw increased premiums. 304 00:16:20,700 --> 00:16:24,630 They saw increased deductibles, and they saw benefits being reduced. 305 00:16:24,870 --> 00:16:30,540 Uh, I think the bigger news here was that, um, was that even though 306 00:16:30,545 --> 00:16:33,360 people paid the ransom, they didn't necessarily recover their data. 307 00:16:33,810 --> 00:16:34,200 Right. 308 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,340 Um, they, uh, said one fourth of them. 309 00:16:39,420 --> 00:16:42,390 Of of those that, that couldn't pay, that that paid the ransoms, 310 00:16:42,390 --> 00:16:43,680 still didn't get their data back. 311 00:16:44,340 --> 00:16:45,930 Um, yeah. 312 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:47,460 You know, they got this phrase in there. 313 00:16:47,910 --> 00:16:48,330 Okay. 314 00:16:48,450 --> 00:16:49,380 This is a big one. 315 00:16:50,580 --> 00:16:58,155 Uh, And this, this is, this is the biggest I told you so of what I was talking about. 316 00:16:58,515 --> 00:17:01,995 Cyber villains were able to affect the backup repositories 317 00:17:01,995 --> 00:17:05,415 in 75% of the attacks, right? 318 00:17:05,895 --> 00:17:08,175 So yeah. 319 00:17:08,595 --> 00:17:12,975 So bad actors targeted the backup repositories at 93% of 320 00:17:12,975 --> 00:17:14,985 the attacks, nearly identical. 321 00:17:15,075 --> 00:17:18,405 94% of the repositories that were targeted in 2021. 322 00:17:19,155 --> 00:17:24,420 Um, They said that some, most, or all of the repositories were affected. 323 00:17:25,050 --> 00:17:31,200 Um, the, I mean, this is the most, this is the thing I've been, you know, 324 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:32,850 trying to warn people about, right. 325 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:38,550 Um, that you need to put different, uh, layers of protection 326 00:17:38,940 --> 00:17:40,860 on your backup repository. 327 00:17:41,130 --> 00:17:45,750 And, and this'll, this'll sound, you know, however it sounds, I, I 328 00:17:45,750 --> 00:17:47,610 think this is even more so true. 329 00:17:47,610 --> 00:17:47,670 I. 330 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:52,140 If you are running a Windows based, uh, backup product, right? 331 00:17:52,530 --> 00:17:55,410 Um, yeah, that's my Linux bigotry showing through. 332 00:17:55,770 --> 00:17:57,840 But it's, it is just a matter of statistics, right? 333 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,300 Uh, and by the way, they are now going after VMware. 334 00:18:00,300 --> 00:18:01,260 They're going after Linux. 335 00:18:01,590 --> 00:18:06,930 It's not pure, but Windows is still the, the number one target for, for ransomware. 336 00:18:08,010 --> 00:18:13,560 And, uh, I think that the, the best solution this for the Veeam 337 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,530 customers, um, you know, and this will be a straight up plug. 338 00:18:16,860 --> 00:18:21,300 But I, I do believe this strongly, this new product called Blocky for 339 00:18:21,330 --> 00:18:25,560 Veeam, um, to me it's a silver bullet. 340 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,340 You know, we don't often see a silver bullet in the, the backup world. 341 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:35,865 Um, and, uh, but basically what it is, is the file system driver, uh, That 342 00:18:35,865 --> 00:18:41,205 won't allow anything but Veeam itself to read and write from the backups. 343 00:18:41,535 --> 00:18:47,705 And so, um, this would significantly hard, I think it would make the, the, 344 00:18:47,710 --> 00:18:53,925 the Windows Veeam repository as hard, if not harder, than the Linux-based 345 00:18:53,955 --> 00:18:55,845 hardened repository that they offer. 346 00:18:56,205 --> 00:18:59,835 And I think that the advantage that this has is, I think a lot of, would you agree? 347 00:18:59,985 --> 00:19:03,165 Well, I'm, I dunno if we have data to back this up, but I, but I, it's 348 00:19:03,165 --> 00:19:06,465 one of those things of like, I don't know this for a fact, but I'm pretty 349 00:19:06,470 --> 00:19:11,805 sure that the majority of Veeam customers are very Windows centric. 350 00:19:12,345 --> 00:19:13,485 Would you think that that's, 351 00:19:13,635 --> 00:19:14,025 if not 352 00:19:14,190 --> 00:19:14,220 Prasanna Malaiyandi: probab, 353 00:19:14,295 --> 00:19:14,655 W. Curtis Preston: only away? 354 00:19:15,150 --> 00:19:17,100 Prasanna Malaiyandi: yeah, I would probably agree with that. 355 00:19:17,370 --> 00:19:21,090 it's just an additional hurdle you're putting for the threat actors. 356 00:19:22,110 --> 00:19:22,590 Right. 357 00:19:22,740 --> 00:19:26,430 And so if it becomes more difficult, they're just gonna skip it and 358 00:19:26,430 --> 00:19:27,900 move on to something else, right? 359 00:19:27,900 --> 00:19:29,400 So it's additional protection. 360 00:19:29,455 --> 00:19:32,845 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah, the, the thing I think, um, the, the big thing I, the 361 00:19:32,845 --> 00:19:37,645 reason why I was asking about the Windows based, um, the, uh, the Windows based 362 00:19:37,645 --> 00:19:42,415 question is that if you are a Windows centric shop and you don't really have 363 00:19:42,415 --> 00:19:46,735 any Linux systems at, you know, creating a Linux hardened repository as your 364 00:19:46,735 --> 00:19:52,885 only, uh, Linux system, I don't think is a good idea that, uh, Um, because 365 00:19:52,885 --> 00:19:56,935 it will get, it will not be properly administered from a security perspective. 366 00:19:57,505 --> 00:19:57,755 What were you 367 00:19:57,790 --> 00:20:01,180 Prasanna Malaiyandi: I was, I I was just thinking in my head, it's like asking, 368 00:20:01,810 --> 00:20:08,680 uh, uh, a receptionist to do heart surgery on a patient at a hospital. 369 00:20:09,695 --> 00:20:10,585 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah, uh, 370 00:20:10,690 --> 00:20:10,960 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Right? 371 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:12,670 It's it going back to the skillset, right? 372 00:20:12,670 --> 00:20:16,030 Someone who's an expert at administering windows, when you're like, Hey, 373 00:20:16,030 --> 00:20:19,870 I need to deploy a Linux system, or pick whatever other oss right? 374 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,810 There is some level of proficiency required in order 375 00:20:22,810 --> 00:20:24,490 to secure it in the proper ways. 376 00:20:24,490 --> 00:20:26,710 Yes, you could read best practices, but it's not the same 377 00:20:26,710 --> 00:20:28,660 as doing it day in, day out. 378 00:20:29,545 --> 00:20:29,965 W. Curtis Preston: Well, yeah. 379 00:20:29,965 --> 00:20:33,115 And, and Veeam does a good job of giving you instructions to, to 380 00:20:33,115 --> 00:20:38,065 create the Linux repository, but that's not the end of the story. 381 00:20:38,065 --> 00:20:38,305 Right? 382 00:20:38,305 --> 00:20:39,835 You need, there's patch management. 383 00:20:39,865 --> 00:20:40,765 Patch management. 384 00:20:41,005 --> 00:20:41,965 Patch management. 385 00:20:42,265 --> 00:20:42,685 Right. 386 00:20:42,715 --> 00:20:47,520 So this is why I think if, if you're a Windows only shop if you don't have very 387 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,720 many Linux servers, then I think it's a bad idea to add one for security reasons. 388 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:52,410 I think it's actually. 389 00:20:53,430 --> 00:20:54,720 A good reason not to add one. 390 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,630 And so that's why this gives you that immutability aspect 391 00:20:57,630 --> 00:20:58,770 on your Windows server. 392 00:20:58,980 --> 00:21:03,840 Um, and, um, and yeah, they, we, you know, they, they are, they are a partner. 393 00:21:03,845 --> 00:21:08,700 If you go over there and go to blockyforveeam.com/mrbackup for Mr. 394 00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:11,880 Backup, um, they do have a discount. 395 00:21:11,885 --> 00:21:15,930 I think you get like, um, half off the first server or something. 396 00:21:15,930 --> 00:21:17,640 I don't remember exactly what the discount is. 397 00:21:17,970 --> 00:21:20,970 Um, and yes, we would help support the show. 398 00:21:21,390 --> 00:21:25,680 Um, but anyway, yeah, I, I think that's a really good idea to do. 399 00:21:25,860 --> 00:21:32,280 And, but this idea of it just kills me that, that the cyber villains are 400 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,620 able to affect the backups, right? 401 00:21:35,700 --> 00:21:36,900 Prasanna Malaiyandi: and they've gotten smart, right? 402 00:21:36,900 --> 00:21:38,820 They realize that's where a bunch of data sits. 403 00:21:38,820 --> 00:21:40,200 That's how people recover. 404 00:21:40,710 --> 00:21:43,470 So why not take it out first? 405 00:21:43,770 --> 00:21:44,850 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah, exactly. 406 00:21:45,570 --> 00:21:48,390 You wanna talk about the next, uh, This 407 00:21:48,450 --> 00:21:48,660 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yeah. 408 00:21:49,170 --> 00:21:52,755 So the next one is, Yeah, the time to recover. 409 00:21:52,755 --> 00:21:58,185 I think most people think, oh, by the way, I know how long it takes me to recover. 410 00:21:58,605 --> 00:22:00,825 Say when an application fails. 411 00:22:01,815 --> 00:22:07,125 But to recover from these attacks, you're not just recovering like it actually 412 00:22:07,125 --> 00:22:12,495 says it takes at least three weeks to recover from each attack after the triage. 413 00:22:12,495 --> 00:22:12,675 Right. 414 00:22:12,675 --> 00:22:13,515 And that's the hard part. 415 00:22:13,515 --> 00:22:16,785 It's you need to figure out what happened when it happened, 416 00:22:16,845 --> 00:22:18,345 what servers were impacted. 417 00:22:18,345 --> 00:22:20,715 You might need to set up an isolated environment. 418 00:22:21,395 --> 00:22:26,735 Right then you need to potentially bring in new servers or re uh, re-image them. 419 00:22:27,155 --> 00:22:30,635 Start doing your restores, make sure everything's back up and running. 420 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:32,975 You have to worry about the order in which you do it, because remember, 421 00:22:33,245 --> 00:22:35,765 they're not just affecting a single application where you're like, 422 00:22:35,765 --> 00:22:37,445 oh, my Oracle application failed. 423 00:22:37,445 --> 00:22:38,945 Let me figure out how to bring it back up. 424 00:22:39,305 --> 00:22:41,105 This is across your entire environment. 425 00:22:41,105 --> 00:22:43,235 So even things that you would've assumed, like. 426 00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:46,880 Active directory being available or other things like that, just 427 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:48,830 even get started, don't exist. 428 00:22:48,830 --> 00:22:52,100 And so you're basically bootstrapping your company from scratch. 429 00:22:52,490 --> 00:22:55,430 And so I would say three weeks, it might be a conservative estimate 430 00:22:55,460 --> 00:22:58,730 for some companies, depending on if they've done this exercise before. 431 00:22:59,850 --> 00:23:02,160 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah, they, they make a point of saying that this is 432 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,100 three weeks to recover after triage. 433 00:23:05,430 --> 00:23:05,850 Right? 434 00:23:06,090 --> 00:23:11,550 And, and triage is gonna be that phase that, uh, again, remember Tony said that 435 00:23:11,550 --> 00:23:16,530 he told, he said that it took them two to three weeks to, to triage, just to figure 436 00:23:16,530 --> 00:23:21,570 out, um, you know, which servers have been affected, which backup policies are good. 437 00:23:21,915 --> 00:23:23,715 Uh, you know, et cetera. 438 00:23:23,985 --> 00:23:26,745 And then, and then it takes three weeks to recover. 439 00:23:26,745 --> 00:23:32,715 So, uh, to me, that, that whole thing that pushes you to the front end of the 440 00:23:32,715 --> 00:23:37,395 problem, right, of, of doing what you can to avoid the attack in the first place. 441 00:23:37,755 --> 00:23:41,445 Because if you do get the attack, you know, even if you have a decent backup 442 00:23:41,445 --> 00:23:47,505 system, it's going to take you quite a long time to, um, you know, to recover. 443 00:23:48,450 --> 00:23:48,510 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yeah. 444 00:23:50,115 --> 00:23:50,355 Yeah. 445 00:23:50,535 --> 00:23:54,345 And I, I don't know if they would talk about this, I don't think that they 446 00:23:54,345 --> 00:23:56,355 talk about this in the, uh, report. 447 00:23:56,355 --> 00:24:00,165 But one of the things also that I know some of the other cybersecurity experts 448 00:24:00,165 --> 00:24:04,395 we've had, guests we've had on the podcast that they mention is, once you've 449 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:08,625 been hit right, people are gonna try hitting you again and again and again. 450 00:24:09,195 --> 00:24:09,645 Right? 451 00:24:09,645 --> 00:24:14,310 So, It's then, this is not even just about like while you're in the process, 452 00:24:14,315 --> 00:24:17,580 I know they talk later about risks of reinfection and other things like that, 453 00:24:17,580 --> 00:24:21,810 but this is just once you're a known target and people are out there who know 454 00:24:21,810 --> 00:24:26,190 about it, they're gonna try to exploit you again and again and again, right? 455 00:24:26,190 --> 00:24:27,570 Which isn't even covered in this. 456 00:24:27,570 --> 00:24:31,500 Like, so each time you get this attack, right, it's three weeks plus triage time. 457 00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:34,890 Just imagine constantly, it's like, Hey, open season, come attack me. 458 00:24:35,730 --> 00:24:36,090 Right? 459 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:37,830 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah. 460 00:24:38,250 --> 00:24:38,940 Um. 461 00:24:39,900 --> 00:24:44,430 The, uh, I like, I like the, you know, the, the numbers they had about using, 462 00:24:44,430 --> 00:24:50,940 you know, that 80, they're saying 82% used, uh, some sort of immutable cloud 463 00:24:50,940 --> 00:24:56,010 offering either a service or using, uh, cloud storage in a hyperscaler, uh, 464 00:24:56,040 --> 00:25:01,980 which I think, um, and they also put that 14%, uh, that tape still mattered. 465 00:25:02,835 --> 00:25:04,275 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Does that warm your heart, Curtis? 466 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,080 W. Curtis Preston: it warms my, warms my little tape heart. 467 00:25:07,410 --> 00:25:12,765 Um, You know, I mean, tape, tape has a lot of things going against it, but, um, 468 00:25:12,975 --> 00:25:14,535 immutability isn't one of them, right? 469 00:25:14,945 --> 00:25:19,095 The, the, the, the, the ability to take that tape out and set it on a 470 00:25:19,095 --> 00:25:24,015 shelf and make it making it immune to any kind of cyber attack, um, until we 471 00:25:24,015 --> 00:25:27,435 get to robot managed tape libraries. 472 00:25:28,575 --> 00:25:32,475 And by that I mean like, like ai, like actual robots, right? 473 00:25:32,535 --> 00:25:34,845 Not, you know, not, not a tape robot. 474 00:25:35,205 --> 00:25:36,255 This would be a tape robot. 475 00:25:36,255 --> 00:25:37,215 but you know what I'm trying to say. 476 00:25:37,215 --> 00:25:37,545 Right? 477 00:25:37,545 --> 00:25:37,635 Like, 478 00:25:38,535 --> 00:25:40,245 Prasanna Malaiyandi: and then at some point someone's gonna be, 479 00:25:40,305 --> 00:25:40,905 W. Curtis Preston: tapes around. 480 00:25:41,535 --> 00:25:41,745 Prasanna Malaiyandi: yeah. 481 00:25:41,745 --> 00:25:44,565 And then at some point someone is probably gonna be a prompt, a 482 00:25:44,570 --> 00:25:49,635 malicious, prompt engineer who injects bad data into the model such that now 483 00:25:49,635 --> 00:25:53,505 even that's not safe, just saying. 484 00:25:53,625 --> 00:25:58,005 W. Curtis Preston: can only, we can only, we can only, um, um, 485 00:25:59,145 --> 00:25:59,475 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Do so 486 00:25:59,505 --> 00:26:01,785 W. Curtis Preston: only do so much. 487 00:26:02,385 --> 00:26:02,715 Um. 488 00:26:03,825 --> 00:26:07,665 This, this, this last one or this stat? 489 00:26:07,665 --> 00:26:09,915 I, I I was confused. 490 00:26:10,455 --> 00:26:11,175 Um, 491 00:26:13,355 --> 00:26:14,955 Prasanna Malaiyandi: The 56% run. 492 00:26:15,795 --> 00:26:19,065 W. Curtis Preston: No, this was 71% would recover to a cloud. 493 00:26:19,065 --> 00:26:20,985 81% would use the data center. 494 00:26:21,435 --> 00:26:23,175 I'm very confused by that headline. 495 00:26:23,895 --> 00:26:30,855 Um, the, it, it must be one of these where obviously it's more 496 00:26:30,855 --> 00:26:32,565 than more than a hundred percent. 497 00:26:33,255 --> 00:26:35,025 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Well, you're asking two separate questions 498 00:26:35,030 --> 00:26:36,675 rather than an this or that. 499 00:26:37,020 --> 00:26:38,010 W. Curtis Preston: Oh, is that what it is? 500 00:26:38,190 --> 00:26:38,610 Okay. 501 00:26:38,745 --> 00:26:38,835 Prasanna Malaiyandi: so. 502 00:26:39,390 --> 00:26:44,220 W. Curtis Preston: Um, so 19% only plan to recover to a cloud. 503 00:26:44,310 --> 00:26:48,660 29% only plan to recover to on-prem servers. 504 00:26:49,290 --> 00:26:53,100 And 52% have plans that include both cloud and on-prem recovery. 505 00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:55,590 I think they added those two numbers together or something 506 00:26:56,370 --> 00:26:58,110 to, uh, to come up with that. 507 00:26:58,380 --> 00:26:59,040 Um, 508 00:27:00,555 --> 00:27:02,445 Prasanna Malaiyandi: I think that makes sense, right? 509 00:27:02,445 --> 00:27:08,835 I think you need to have options because you don't know what this blast radius is. 510 00:27:09,630 --> 00:27:13,290 For some of, like for the attack, and it might be better, right? 511 00:27:13,290 --> 00:27:18,060 Rather than trying to move an entire workload to the cloud to recover, right? 512 00:27:18,065 --> 00:27:21,270 Maybe you do have the gear to just spin it up locally and 513 00:27:21,275 --> 00:27:22,530 that just makes life easier. 514 00:27:22,530 --> 00:27:27,840 Versus maybe it's a full data center outage caused by ransomware attack where 515 00:27:27,870 --> 00:27:31,830 no, you have no other choice because you can't get the equipment in time, right? 516 00:27:31,830 --> 00:27:33,750 So spin it up wherever you can. 517 00:27:34,455 --> 00:27:34,785 W. Curtis Preston: yeah. 518 00:27:34,845 --> 00:27:37,305 That's why I'm such a fan of the cloud for DR. 519 00:27:37,305 --> 00:27:39,015 And Cyber Recoveries, right? 520 00:27:39,015 --> 00:27:43,906 Is that, you know, when you, when you do a, a, a disaster recovery or you do a, a 521 00:27:43,911 --> 00:27:48,570 cyber recovery, What you need is a whole bunch of hardware right now, and you don't 522 00:27:48,570 --> 00:27:50,280 want to pay it until you need it, right? 523 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:55,140 Um, and, and I, the only way I know to do that is the cloud, right? 524 00:27:55,500 --> 00:27:58,440 Why are you, why are you nodding, nodding your head back and forth? 525 00:27:59,250 --> 00:28:01,740 Prasanna Malaiyandi: So while I agree with that, I think when you 526 00:28:01,740 --> 00:28:05,460 get to a certain scale, remember the cloud isn't something magical. 527 00:28:05,465 --> 00:28:06,570 It is still someone 528 00:28:06,570 --> 00:28:07,810 W. Curtis Preston: magic Prasanna. 529 00:28:07,830 --> 00:28:08,730 Prasanna Malaiyandi: I know, I know. 530 00:28:08,735 --> 00:28:10,620 But I'm just caveating it. 531 00:28:10,650 --> 00:28:14,940 That says, even though the cloud allows you to spin up those resources 532 00:28:14,940 --> 00:28:19,440 quickly, you, depending on how large environment is, it may not actually 533 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,660 be feasible to spin it up in a cloud. 534 00:28:22,590 --> 00:28:22,830 Right? 535 00:28:22,830 --> 00:28:24,600 They just may not have the free capacity. 536 00:28:25,575 --> 00:28:29,625 W. Curtis Preston: I think that the number of companies that cannot 537 00:28:29,625 --> 00:28:31,665 do that are relatively small. 538 00:28:33,150 --> 00:28:34,620 Prasanna Malaiyandi: I agree, but I'm just saying 539 00:28:34,755 --> 00:28:35,265 W. Curtis Preston: are correct. 540 00:28:35,265 --> 00:28:35,295 I. 541 00:28:36,270 --> 00:28:40,740 Um, if any of those companies are listening to this podcast, 542 00:28:40,860 --> 00:28:42,150 we would love to hear from you. 543 00:28:42,330 --> 00:28:44,880 I would love to hear how you are doing Dr. 544 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:46,440 Uh, without the cloud. 545 00:28:46,470 --> 00:28:51,330 And, and it's probably the answer is, you know, it's a warm site or a hot site or 546 00:28:51,390 --> 00:28:59,385 a significantly long r t o, um, and um, They have more money than than Amazon. 547 00:28:59,565 --> 00:29:00,975 We used to say more money than God. 548 00:29:00,975 --> 00:29:05,775 Now I just say more money than Amazon, um, or Apple. 549 00:29:05,780 --> 00:29:06,795 More money than Apple. 550 00:29:07,245 --> 00:29:12,615 Um, so let's move on to the, to this, this the password manager thing. 551 00:29:13,125 --> 00:29:16,875 This I think was the coolest headline ever. 552 00:29:17,205 --> 00:29:22,395 And, you know, and, and honestly they, the headline actually downplays it somewhat. 553 00:29:22,725 --> 00:29:26,535 Strengthening password security may lower cyber insurance premiums. 554 00:29:27,045 --> 00:29:30,705 I would put it like this, want lower cyber insurance premiums, 555 00:29:30,855 --> 00:29:32,475 get a damn password manager. 556 00:29:32,805 --> 00:29:34,575 That's the, that's the way I would put it. 557 00:29:34,875 --> 00:29:36,915 They put in here, um, I. 558 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,190 So this was the, this was the, the, the biggest thing here. 559 00:29:41,460 --> 00:29:46,260 Spec ops research shows that an analysis of 800 million breach passwords, 560 00:29:46,260 --> 00:29:47,790 that's a lot of breach passwords. 561 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:53,280 83% of compromised passwords satisfied the password length and 562 00:29:53,285 --> 00:29:57,390 complexity requirements of regulatory password standard standards. 563 00:29:58,915 --> 00:29:59,625 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Still not good 564 00:29:59,820 --> 00:30:04,050 W. Curtis Preston: So yeah, not good enough, right? 565 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:08,985 Um, And that that's both length and, um, 566 00:30:09,375 --> 00:30:10,065 complexity. 567 00:30:10,125 --> 00:30:10,545 Right, 568 00:30:11,165 --> 00:30:11,385 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yep. 569 00:30:11,445 --> 00:30:11,835 W. Curtis Preston: right. 570 00:30:11,865 --> 00:30:12,705 All that stuff. 571 00:30:12,705 --> 00:30:13,095 Right. 572 00:30:13,155 --> 00:30:20,925 So, um, the, uh, but what they're saying is that if, if you can prove 573 00:30:20,925 --> 00:30:27,105 that you have a password manager and m f a, you get a significant reduction 574 00:30:27,195 --> 00:30:29,205 in your cyber insurance coverage. 575 00:30:29,385 --> 00:30:32,085 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yeah, and I think this goes back to right, 576 00:30:32,085 --> 00:30:34,695 cyber insurers aren't idiots, right? 577 00:30:34,695 --> 00:30:35,685 They're there to make money. 578 00:30:35,685 --> 00:30:38,115 They're not gonna insure someone, right? 579 00:30:38,145 --> 00:30:41,325 Unless they meet a certain bar where they know, yes, things are good. 580 00:30:41,325 --> 00:30:44,925 You're doing all the right precautions, right? 581 00:30:44,955 --> 00:30:49,905 That it's not highly likely that some idiotic situation is 582 00:30:49,905 --> 00:30:51,105 gonna cause you to be preached, 583 00:30:52,260 --> 00:30:52,650 W. Curtis Preston: Right. 584 00:30:53,220 --> 00:30:53,580 Yeah. 585 00:30:54,300 --> 00:30:54,810 Yeah. 586 00:30:55,350 --> 00:30:58,710 I, I think, I think that when we go back to the beginning of the, 587 00:30:59,370 --> 00:31:00,840 Of the cyber insurance world. 588 00:31:00,980 --> 00:31:06,990 The, the insurers were definitely caught flatfooted with, um, with 589 00:31:07,350 --> 00:31:09,120 the explosion of ransomware. 590 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,280 And they are now triaging that. 591 00:31:11,610 --> 00:31:15,810 And they're basically saying, Hey, when, when you renew, uh, one of 592 00:31:15,810 --> 00:31:18,000 the first things they're saying is we're excluding ransomware. 593 00:31:18,420 --> 00:31:22,860 Um, and, but now what they're saying, uh, this is, this is what 594 00:31:22,860 --> 00:31:24,780 I'm hearing, an all too common. 595 00:31:25,845 --> 00:31:26,655 Statement. 596 00:31:26,655 --> 00:31:30,255 And this is just another article that's backing that up. 597 00:31:30,255 --> 00:31:35,505 And that is that if you don't, if you can't prove to your insurance company that 598 00:31:35,505 --> 00:31:41,685 you don't have good password management and M f A, uh, basically that's not 599 00:31:41,685 --> 00:31:44,355 the only things, but those are the, I'd say that's the one and the two. 600 00:31:44,715 --> 00:31:46,515 Uh, the other one being patch management. 601 00:31:46,725 --> 00:31:51,585 If you don't, uh, if you can't prove that you have, that, you might not be 602 00:31:51,585 --> 00:31:54,675 able to get cyber insurance, period. 603 00:31:55,245 --> 00:32:00,525 Uh, and then number two, that if you can prove it and you can prove that 604 00:32:00,525 --> 00:32:03,735 not only do you have, let's say, a good password management policy, you 605 00:32:03,735 --> 00:32:07,515 have an automated password management system, and you have a way to ensure 606 00:32:07,515 --> 00:32:11,445 that people don't use old passwords and people don't repeat passwords. 607 00:32:11,595 --> 00:32:15,075 'cause by the way, a password manager won't necessarily do that. 608 00:32:15,945 --> 00:32:16,365 Right? 609 00:32:16,455 --> 00:32:17,985 It, it will, it will. 610 00:32:18,015 --> 00:32:22,755 I know this for a fact 'cause I've put Right, I, you know, because 611 00:32:22,755 --> 00:32:25,875 every once in a while I'll be like, I don't have time for this right now. 612 00:32:25,875 --> 00:32:27,675 I'm gonna, I'm just gonna do a quick password. 613 00:32:28,125 --> 00:32:33,915 Um, and um, uh, and I store that on my password manager. 614 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,525 And my password manager will tell me later, Hey, you shouldn't have done 615 00:32:36,525 --> 00:32:38,175 that, but it's not gonna enforce that. 616 00:32:38,385 --> 00:32:41,745 Now, that may be the case in a corporate password manager. 617 00:32:41,745 --> 00:32:47,535 They may be able, they may be able to, may able to put policies in place that don't 618 00:32:47,535 --> 00:32:51,495 allow you to repeat passwords, because that's one of the things that I saw, 619 00:32:51,555 --> 00:32:53,355 ah, in one of the articles we looked at. 620 00:32:54,005 --> 00:32:54,295 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yeah. 621 00:32:54,375 --> 00:33:01,095 W. Curtis Preston: Was that the hackers are increasingly becoming more interested 622 00:33:01,095 --> 00:33:05,475 in, they, they don't need to hack your passwords when they know that one of the 623 00:33:05,475 --> 00:33:07,785 passwords has already been compromised. 624 00:33:08,055 --> 00:33:12,075 And so the, the really common thing to do is to reuse that 625 00:33:12,075 --> 00:33:14,625 password in a bunch of places. 626 00:33:14,865 --> 00:33:19,335 And, um, They don't have to hack your password, they just have to steal it 627 00:33:19,335 --> 00:33:23,625 from some other place and then try that password, uh, and then poof they're in. 628 00:33:24,195 --> 00:33:27,295 Especially if you don't have what Prasanna 629 00:33:28,695 --> 00:33:29,015 Prasanna Malaiyandi: M F A. 630 00:33:29,715 --> 00:33:31,005 W. Curtis Preston: M f a Exactly. 631 00:33:31,545 --> 00:33:33,315 M f a is your friend, man. 632 00:33:34,155 --> 00:33:38,505 I dunno why I started sound like the dude from the Big, big Lebowski there. 633 00:33:39,165 --> 00:33:39,555 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yes. 634 00:33:39,795 --> 00:33:41,625 W. Curtis Preston: Um, yeah. 635 00:33:43,215 --> 00:33:45,285 I mean, again, I will, I will put, I will. 636 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:47,610 I will stand here and say, stand here. 637 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:48,120 Sit here. 638 00:33:48,330 --> 00:33:52,260 I will sit here and say I was a late comer to M f A. 639 00:33:52,830 --> 00:33:53,250 Right? 640 00:33:54,120 --> 00:34:01,110 I, but I eventually said, I'm gonna do this for anything that matters, right? 641 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:05,250 Um, I'm gonna have a unique password and I'm gonna use m f A. 642 00:34:05,670 --> 00:34:10,890 And then I, and now I get upset when something that matters 643 00:34:10,890 --> 00:34:12,780 doesn't have real M f a. 644 00:34:13,950 --> 00:34:14,220 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yeah. 645 00:34:14,985 --> 00:34:16,695 W. Curtis Preston: what was I logging into? 646 00:34:17,430 --> 00:34:22,400 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Where real is defined as non email non S M S M F A. 647 00:34:22,515 --> 00:34:24,435 W. Curtis Preston: exactly, exactly. 648 00:34:24,825 --> 00:34:29,355 Uh, I was logging into a financial thing. 649 00:34:29,925 --> 00:34:33,915 I won't say what, what it was for obvious reasons, but I was logging into 650 00:34:34,425 --> 00:34:41,805 a financial organization and the only M f A they offer is SS m s, and I was 651 00:34:41,805 --> 00:34:44,775 like, That just makes me angry, right. 652 00:34:45,405 --> 00:34:51,225 So, yeah, so I've gone, I've gone from being, um, you know, uh, a latecomer 653 00:34:51,225 --> 00:34:55,905 to being a staunch proponent, so password managers and M F a password 654 00:34:55,910 --> 00:35:01,875 managers and M f A and um, pass or, uh, patch management, right? 655 00:35:02,625 --> 00:35:05,595 Um, for all the things including your backup server. 656 00:35:06,255 --> 00:35:07,365 Including your backup server? 657 00:35:07,365 --> 00:35:07,635 I don't know. 658 00:35:07,815 --> 00:35:08,925 I don't know how, how many times. 659 00:35:08,925 --> 00:35:10,515 I gotta say, put your backup server. 660 00:35:10,575 --> 00:35:12,675 I, I think it should be at the front of the line. 661 00:35:13,305 --> 00:35:15,435 Um, because it's your last line of defense. 662 00:35:15,675 --> 00:35:16,005 Right. 663 00:35:16,335 --> 00:35:17,205 Prasanna Malaiyandi: But it's never there. 664 00:35:18,255 --> 00:35:19,305 W. Curtis Preston: But it's just never there. 665 00:35:19,305 --> 00:35:21,765 Just, just make sure it's in the line and make sure that the 666 00:35:21,765 --> 00:35:23,506 line doesn't take three months. 667 00:35:24,615 --> 00:35:24,975 Right. 668 00:35:24,980 --> 00:35:31,365 The line's, the line to line, you know, uh, a, a big critical, like 669 00:35:31,365 --> 00:35:33,045 all patches are not created equal. 670 00:35:33,045 --> 00:35:33,315 Right. 671 00:35:34,125 --> 00:35:34,485 Prasanna Malaiyandi: yeah, 672 00:35:36,390 --> 00:35:36,960 W. Curtis Preston: You have an 673 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:38,980 example of a patch that like matters more? 674 00:35:41,805 --> 00:35:47,385 Prasanna Malaiyandi: uh, Like, uh, like uh, remote code execution 675 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:48,130 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah. 676 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:48,490 Like 677 00:35:48,615 --> 00:35:51,375 Prasanna Malaiyandi: for a system that's on the internet, facing is 678 00:35:51,375 --> 00:35:59,625 probably a lot more important than say something for a small that is sort of 679 00:35:59,625 --> 00:36:04,275 a potential exploit that can only be uncovered if you have physical access 680 00:36:04,275 --> 00:36:06,025 to a system with the memory dump. 681 00:36:07,035 --> 00:36:07,545 W. Curtis Preston: Right. 682 00:36:07,635 --> 00:36:08,055 Yeah. 683 00:36:08,355 --> 00:36:14,385 I, I, um, I, I would, yeah, I, you know, it's like here, you know, 684 00:36:14,415 --> 00:36:16,095 here are the top 10 things, right? 685 00:36:16,095 --> 00:36:20,895 One of the, one of the top 10 things I think would be review those 686 00:36:20,895 --> 00:36:22,905 systems that are directly accessibly. 687 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:27,330 Via the internet and ask yourself, do they need to be right? 688 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:29,070 Uh, number one. 689 00:36:29,220 --> 00:36:38,400 And then number two is, um, block outgoing internet access except on required 690 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:41,460 ports, uh, one of which will be port 80. 691 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:50,640 And then go and block, um, the, um, the, the known like data sharing sites. 692 00:36:51,255 --> 00:36:55,455 Um, you know, like the, the obvious one is like, like Dropbox and things 693 00:36:55,455 --> 00:36:59,805 like that, but there are other more nefarious sites that literally just 694 00:36:59,895 --> 00:37:01,935 share all sorts of malware and whatnot. 695 00:37:02,355 --> 00:37:02,685 Yeah. 696 00:37:02,715 --> 00:37:02,925 Yeah. 697 00:37:02,925 --> 00:37:03,825 That stuff, yeah. 698 00:37:03,855 --> 00:37:05,805 Block all those sites on port 80. 699 00:37:06,435 --> 00:37:13,455 Uh, and then, and then anything else, uh, should be like outgoing from your 700 00:37:13,455 --> 00:37:15,525 server to the wild, wild internet. 701 00:37:16,005 --> 00:37:20,745 Should be blocked until you'd ha have a reason otherwise. 702 00:37:20,805 --> 00:37:21,225 Right. 703 00:37:21,405 --> 00:37:24,255 Backup ports might be an example of something that you open 704 00:37:24,255 --> 00:37:26,805 up, but only like explicitly. 705 00:37:27,495 --> 00:37:27,975 Right. 706 00:37:28,755 --> 00:37:31,305 Uh, to certain places, not to every place. 707 00:37:31,335 --> 00:37:33,315 'cause that also could be used for data exfiltration. 708 00:37:33,855 --> 00:37:34,395 Data exfiltration. 709 00:37:36,735 --> 00:37:37,125 Anyway. 710 00:37:37,815 --> 00:37:39,195 Yeah, we told you so. 711 00:37:39,435 --> 00:37:39,885 Right? 712 00:37:40,005 --> 00:37:43,545 All these reports are just confirming the stuff that we've been saying, 713 00:37:43,545 --> 00:37:45,585 and so we hope that you're listening. 714 00:37:45,675 --> 00:37:48,945 Uh, if this is your first time listening to the show, we've got 715 00:37:48,945 --> 00:37:50,255 other episodes, don't we, Prasanna 716 00:37:50,670 --> 00:37:53,310 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Oh yeah, just a quite a, just a couple. 717 00:37:53,460 --> 00:37:53,940 Not many. 718 00:37:54,405 --> 00:37:57,915 W. Curtis Preston: just a couple, uh, just a few hundred out there. 719 00:37:58,305 --> 00:38:02,625 Uh, be sure to, um, check out the, you know, the back catalog. 720 00:38:03,030 --> 00:38:08,580 Uh, just listen to us, uh, you know, on Apple Podcasts or whatever, you know, 721 00:38:08,580 --> 00:38:12,660 whatever podcast, uh, podcaster you happen to listen to or go to Backup Central and 722 00:38:12,660 --> 00:38:14,280 you can watch video versions and you can 723 00:38:14,510 --> 00:38:15,390 Prasanna Malaiyandi: You could see us, 724 00:38:16,260 --> 00:38:16,710 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah. 725 00:38:16,980 --> 00:38:18,361 Um, and, um, 726 00:38:19,230 --> 00:38:21,360 Prasanna Malaiyandi: you could see my beard grow in 727 00:38:21,390 --> 00:38:23,340 W. Curtis Preston: You can see, you can see the beard grow 728 00:38:23,340 --> 00:38:24,960 in real time if you go back. 729 00:38:25,050 --> 00:38:27,090 So it's what, three years now, right? 730 00:38:27,090 --> 00:38:28,110 It's been over three years. 731 00:38:28,515 --> 00:38:29,445 Prasanna Malaiyandi: over three years. 732 00:38:30,060 --> 00:38:30,510 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah. 733 00:38:30,570 --> 00:38:32,250 Did we have video that whole time though? 734 00:38:32,490 --> 00:38:34,080 I'm not sure if we have it for that whole time. 735 00:38:34,245 --> 00:38:34,455 Prasanna Malaiyandi: oh. 736 00:38:34,460 --> 00:38:35,505 I don't know how long. 737 00:38:35,505 --> 00:38:36,555 Back goes. 738 00:38:37,290 --> 00:38:37,710 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah. 739 00:38:37,950 --> 00:38:38,130 Yeah. 740 00:38:38,130 --> 00:38:42,360 You could go back to when Prasanna had a normal sized beard and hair. 741 00:38:43,500 --> 00:38:44,970 Um, yeah. 742 00:38:44,970 --> 00:38:47,700 They don't, they can't quite see the length of your ponytail though, 743 00:38:48,285 --> 00:38:48,975 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Yeah, they 744 00:38:49,140 --> 00:38:50,250 W. Curtis Preston: it's, yeah, 745 00:38:50,250 --> 00:38:51,570 It's it's way down there. 746 00:38:52,260 --> 00:38:52,620 Yeah. 747 00:38:53,340 --> 00:38:57,210 Um, and you wear a black shirt and that can, that concealing it today, but, 748 00:38:57,780 --> 00:38:59,820 um, you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to start switching 749 00:38:59,820 --> 00:39:00,930 to a gray shirt, but I'm 750 00:39:05,130 --> 00:39:06,150 Prasanna Malaiyandi: Thanks Curtis. 751 00:39:06,810 --> 00:39:07,680 W. Curtis Preston: You're welcome. 752 00:39:08,010 --> 00:39:08,520 Prasanna Malaiyandi: there. 753 00:39:09,210 --> 00:39:09,840 W. Curtis Preston: Yeah. 754 00:39:09,900 --> 00:39:10,680 Hey, you know what? 755 00:39:10,740 --> 00:39:13,590 I owned, I owned up to it a long time ago. 756 00:39:13,890 --> 00:39:14,040 Yeah. 757 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:18,120 I remember it was a few years ago when my daughter looked at my license and 758 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:20,670 she's like, what did we say Brown? 759 00:39:22,380 --> 00:39:26,700 Because the license has Brown on there and she's like, really? 760 00:39:27,690 --> 00:39:28,110 Really? 761 00:39:29,100 --> 00:39:30,270 I'm like, ouch. 762 00:39:31,230 --> 00:39:35,070 Anyway, well, uh, thanks for listening folks, and be sure to subscribe 763 00:39:35,070 --> 00:39:36,960 so that you can restore it all.