CompTIA members offer aid to victims of ransomware attack

CompTIA, the non-profit association for the IT industry and workforce, today announced several actions to help IT companies affected by the ransomware attack that has impacted organisations worldwide.

CompTIA member companies are providing immediate assistance and support to other IT companies and, through them, to customers victimised by the ransomware attack that struck on 2 July.

“Within hours of the attack being discovered, more than three dozen members of the CompTIA Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO) offered assistance, including driving or flying to impacted companies to provide additional ‘boots on the ground’, as well as sharing communications, incident response strategies, technical support and other resources,” said MJ Shoer, senior vice-president and executive director of the CompTIA ISAO.

Building on this immediate effort of peer-to-peer help, CompTIA is forming a Rapid Response Team comprising internal and member resources that will help any IT firm that is the victim of a cyber attack, regardless of whether they are a CompTIA member.

Additionally, the CompTIA ISAO is providing near real-time updates on the attack in its Cyber Forum, with the information available to the entire industry, not just ISAO members.

“This was a global attack impacting companies around the world, reminding us that we face unprecedented threats from cyber attacks unlike any threat we have collectively faced in the past,” Shoer said. “That is why it is critical that we engage in an active discourse that discourages ‘cyber-shaming’ and encourages public and private organisations to come forward immediately and share as much threat intelligence as possible to limit the damage of these attacks and to ward off future incursions.”

Shoer noted that many industry professionals felt that this attack – classified as a ‘sophisticated supply chain attack’ by the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency and the FBI – was inevitable, especially for MSPs. A 2021 CompTIA survey found that 62% of MSPs were very concerned and 30% somewhat concerned about being targeted with cyber attacks.

“Kaseya just holds the unfortunate distinction of being the company attacked, even as they were working on closing down the very vulnerability that the attackers used,” he said. “Kaseya is to be commended for their transparency throughout this attack.”

Kaseya is providing regular updates at https://www.kaseya.com/potential-attack-on-kaseya-vsa/.

The CompTIA ISAO works closely with public and private cyber security agencies and organisations to help its members raise the cyber security awareness of the global tech industry. The community of nearly 1 200 member companies shares best practices, cyber threat intelligence, educational content and more to help address these ever-evolving threats. Communities like the CompTIA ISAO are critical to helping MSPs and MSSPs, large and small, to understand the threat landscape and to help them be prepared for attacks, current and future. For complete details on the CompTIA ISAO and the benefits of membership, visit https://www.comptiaisao.org/.