White House says it’s reaching out to ransomware victims

WASHINGTON, July 4 (Reuters) – The White House announced on Sunday that it was addressing victims of a large ransomware outbreak centered on a Florida-based IT company.

In a statement, Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cybersecurity, said the FBI and the cyber arm of the Department of Homeland Security “will contact identified victims to provide assistance based on a national risk assessment.”

The full impact of the intrusion at Kaseya is still ongoing, in part because the affected Kaseya software tool is used by managed service providers, outsourcing stores that other companies use to manage their back-end IT work. -office, such as installing updates. .

Targets included schools, small public sector organizations, travel and leisure organizations, credit unions and accountants, said Ross McKerchar, director of information security at Sophos Group Plc (SOPH.L ).

McKerchar said the wave of intrusions was another illustration of how difficult it is for small businesses to fend off increasingly well-funded cybercriminal gangs.

“Small businesses are outdated when it comes to cybersecurity,” he said.

Reporting by Raphael Satter and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Peter Cooney

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