Halcyon

Halcyon Closes $100M Series C Funding Round at $1 Billion Valuation Halcyon closed a $100M in Series C funding led by Evolution Equity Partners with participation from Bain Capital (BCV), SYN Ventures, Harmony Partners, Corner Capital Management, Dropbox Ventures, ServiceNow Ventures and existing investors. Halcyon is the only organization devoted specifically to defeating #ransomware through a unique combination of prevention and resilience by way of a proprietary technology that captures encryption keys and enables organizations to recover from attacks in minutes without ever paying ransoms. The round brings the total amount raised to $190M and values the company at $1B. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gvT7Mnvc #infosec #security #cybersecurity #cyberattack

Imagine waking up to find that your personal data, business operations, or even a city’s critical infrastructure is held hostage. Ransomware isn’t just an IT issue – it’s a global crisis affecting industries, governments, and individuals alike. But how did ransomware evolve from rudimentary experiments in the 1980s to today’s sophisticated Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) networks? And more importantly, where is this growing threat headed next? Join our Chief Security and Trust Officer, Ben Carr, as he dives deep into the history, evolution, and future of ransomware, highlighting: -The origins of ransomware: How a 1989 floppy disk and a $189 ransom started it all. -The rise of modern ransomware: From CryptoLocker’s encryption revolution in 2013 to global incidents like WannaCry and NotPetya, causing billions in damages. -Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS): How this criminal ecosystem makes ransomware accessible to anyone, fueling attacks like the Colonial Pipeline and Kaseya breaches. What’s next: The looming threats posed by IoT, 5G, and the potential targeting of smart cities and medical devices. Ransomware will continue to evolve – is your organization prepared for the next chapter? Halcyon’s Anti-Ransomware Platform combats current and emerging ransomware threats, ensuring businesses can recover without needing backups and eliminating ransom payments altogether. Learn more about the only cybersecurity platform dedicated solely to stopping a ransomware attack dead in its tracks. https://lnkd.in/eJd-NpRs

Black Basta Leveraging Microsoft Teams for Social Engineering The #BlackBasta #ransomware group has adopted #MicrosoftTeams as a tool for sophisticated social engineering attacks, targeting hundreds of organizations in October 2024. Black Basta has shifted tactics from email-based #phishing to impersonating #IT help desk staff on Microsoft Teams for initial infection. Key risks include external account spoofing using fake Entra ID tenants, employees' misplaced trust in Teams messages, and unrestricted remote access through collaboration tools. https://lnkd.in/gFR7heP9 #cybersecurity #infosec #security #cyberattack #ransomware

Ransomware on the Move: #BlackSuit, #Everest, #Meow, #Akira Halcyon publishes a quarterly #RaaS and data #extortion group reference guide, Power Rankings: Ransomware Malicious Quartile. Here's the #ransomware gangs on the move last week: - BlackSuit demonstrated its operational prowess executing 14 attacks - Everest focused heavily on dental clinics - Meow group raised eyebrows with questionable breach claims - Akira faced scrutiny over duplicate entries https://lnkd.in/gqpn6Jc3 #infosec #security #cybersecurity #cyberattack

What counts as an asset in your organization? From devices to APIs to data, the definition of “asset” is more complex than ever. But as J.J. Guy, CEO and Co-Founder of Sevco Security, discusses with Ben Carr – when doing a complete asset inventory, you must first start with devices. And it may not be an easy feat for several reasons: -In many organizations, there is a growing spectrum of devices: managed, unmanaged, semi-managed, and ephemeral. -There can be a challenge in defining the devices that will vary with an organization – when defining “ephemeral,” how long of an uptime is needed before a device is called ephemeral? Is it seconds, minutes, hours, or days? -Creating a complete asset inventory requires aggregating multiple data points, deduplication, and unified analysis. In cybersecurity, you can't protect what you don't know exists. A complete and accurate asset inventory is foundational for defending your organization against cyber threats and ransomware. Hear more from J.J. and Ben in their full interview. Find the link in the comments.

Suspected Ransomware Attack Forces UK Hospital to Send Patients Home While #WUTH has not confirmed the exact nature of the #cyberattack, the measures taken—such as shutting down systems—are consistent with typical #ransomware attacks or large-scale data #breach. A hospital staff member described the extent of the disruption, saying, “everything” had gone offline: “Everything is done electronically so there’s no access to records, results or anything, so we are having to do everything manually, which is really difficult. The damage is huge..." https://lnkd.in/gcsJtpgw #infosec #security #cybersecurity #healthcare

Anti-Ransomware Firm Halcyon Gets $100M, Earns $1B Valuation The Series C funding will allow Halcyon to further its unique attacker-led approach to development, which uses real-time insights into #ransomware methodologies to create preemptive countermeasures: "We're looking at these specific [ransomware] groups, what they're doing, what their tools are, how they're carrying it out, who they are, and using that to build the best solution to that one specific problem instead of trying to be a panacea for everything cyber..." Halcyon CEO and Co-Founder Jon Miller told Michael Novinson at Information Security Media Group (ISMG) https://lnkd.in/gdMFa3iB #infosec #security #cybersecurity #cyberattack #business #biz

Is ransomware the new terrorism? Ransomware disrupts operations, costs billions, and can endanger human life. While a ransomware attack is highly catastrophic, our Chief Security and Trust Office, Ben Carr, and Kevin O'Connor, Director of Threat Research & Incident Response at Adlumin, tackle the tough question of the classification of ransomware as potentially terrorism – or simply a crime. With government agencies ramping up their fight against ransomware, the conversation explores key topics and their implications, including: -New funding legislation naming 18 ransomware groups as specific targets. -The rise of “nation-state supporters of ransomware” as a classification to combat international threats. -Whether ransomware is a criminal enterprise, or an act of terrorism tied to ideological agendas – or sometimes both Don’t miss this deep dive into the intersection of the evolving nature of ransomware, cybersecurity, and global legislation. Listen to the full interview now. Find the link in the comments.

Emerging Threat Actor: Helldown Ransomware #Helldown gains initial access through multiple methods, such as #phishing, Remote Desktop Protocol (#RDP) exploitation, and #exploiting unpatched #vulnerabilities. The #Helldown encryption stack utilizes AES, Salsa20, and RSA algorithms, for #encryption that makes data recovery virtually impossible without their #decryption keys. As of October 2024, Helldown had listed over 15 victims... https://lnkd.in/gNTtQNQP #cybersecurity #infosec #security #cyberattack #ransomware

All about quality? Learn more in the latest Power Rankings: Ransomware Malicious Quartile Q3-2024 report: https://lnkd.in/gp2YxPeY #infosec #security #cybersecurity #cyberattack #ransomware