WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD COUNTY
BUSINESS JOURNALS
MAY 29, 2017 | VOL. 53, No. 22
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Ridesharing gets Albany lift with early green light
BY ALEESIA FORNI aforni@westfairinc.com
cious software that blocks access to the victim’s data. That the amount demanded from each victim was so small — most were for $300 — led some, particularly hospitals whose patient records were at risk, to pay. “They see it as the easiest way out,” Maxwell said, “but a lot of places can’t just pay and move on.” “You absolutely should not pay,” the BlackStratus security chief said. There are no guarantees that control over one’s computers will be restored or that, as with other cases of hijacking, blackmail and the like, additional and escalating demands will not occur. “Any amount paid is worth it » » WAKE-UP CALL, page 8
» » RIDESHARE, page 8
Paul Enos, president of Identification Products, and product manager Jess Pinheiro beside a new $700,000 high-speed printer in the family-owned company’s Bridgeport plant.
Global ransomware attack a ‘wake-up call’ BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com
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he recent WannaCry ransomware attack may not have generated much money for the shadowy parties behind it, but it brought plenty of business to cybersecurity firm BlackStratus. It’s not the kind of business the company — whose CyberShark technology is headquartered in Stamford — necessarily welcomes, however. “Being attacked by ransomware is unfortunately no longer a matter of if, but of when,” said BlackStratus Chief Security Officer Mike Maxwell. “And that’s part of
why we’re here — to act swiftly and remediate the problem.” Although the people behind WannaCry — identified in some quarters as the North Korealinked Lazarus Group, believed to have also been behind the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures and the theft of more than $80 million from the Bangladesh Central Bank — made much more in the way of publicity than actual money, their attack of May 12-19 should serve as a wake-up call for businesses big and small, Maxwell said. Maxwell said a small percentage of people paid the $300 to $600 in Bitcoin cryptocurrency that WannaCry demanded for the return of the use of the vic-
tims’ computers, Maxwell said. Many reports put the total paid at around $100,000, though cyberrisk modeling firm Cyence said it could go as high as $4 billion. In 2016, such schemes caused losses of $1.5 billion, according to market researcher Cybersecurity Ventures. That amount included lost productivity and the cost of conducting forensic investigations and restoration of data, the company said. As indicated by its name, ransomware is like a kidnapping case. Instead of a person or pet being held hostage for money, however, it is computers running a particular operating system — in this case the Microsoft Windows OS — that are “seized,” using mali-
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hose looking for a safe trip home from their Fourth of July celebrations in New York state will be able to catch a ride with Uber or Lyft. The state Assembly approved a bill on May 23 that expedites the expansion of ride-sharing services into areas outside of New York City. The state Senate passed the bill earlier this month. Ride sharing, which is allowed in New York City under the city’s taxi laws, was originally set to become legalized in the rest of the state on July 9. The recently approved changes in the legislation bring those services to the region 10 days sooner on June 29, just in time for the holiday weekend. “The adoption of this legislation will create new jobs and provide safe, more reliable transportation options during a hectic holiday period,” said state Sen. Terrence Murphy, a Republican whose 40th Senate District includes parts of Dutchess,