{"id":5530,"date":"2021-09-10T12:22:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T16:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/?p=5530"},"modified":"2021-09-15T10:43:11","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T14:43:11","slug":"un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Data Breach: Expert Commentary on a High-Profile Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4578\" src=\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam.jpg\" alt=\"UN Data Breach: Expert Commentary on a High-Profile Attack\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam.jpg 800w, https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam-540x270.jpg 540w, https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam-162x81.jpg 162w, https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam-360x180.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><b><i>The United Nations (UN) recently confirmed suffering a data breach in April and facing multiple similar attacks in the months since.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Private cybersecurity company Resecurity contacted the UN earlier in the year upon discovering dark web chatter indicating UN credentials were up for sale. Hold Security also informed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/09\/09\/politics\/junited-nations-cyberattack-april\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CNN<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that it had made similar observations in April.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Worse, it seems hackers made use of these fraudulently obtained credentials, stealing a trove of data that could facilitate future attacks on departments in the UN. The data breach marks another high-profile cyber-attack this year, underlining the necessity of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/get-a-free-identity-and-access-management-software-solutions-buyers-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cybersecurity<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"widget\"><div class=\"aside-card\">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p><a class=\"iam-inject\" href=\"https:\/\/suggestionengine.solutionsreview.com\/buyer\/signup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1682\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2021\/02\/Identity_Suggestion_Engine_Horiz_800.gif\" alt=\"IAM Solution Suggestion Engine\" width=\"800\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>UN Data Breach: Expert Commentary<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>Trevor Morgan<\/b><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Trevor Morgan is Product Manager with <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.comforte.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">comforte AG<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe tactically simple but successful cyberattack on the United Nations\u2019 computer networks, now being reported as an ongoing breach with activity occurring for months, accentuates two very clear points. First, that while the impression of hackers is usually of technical geniuses using brilliant attack methods and sophisticated tools to skirt defensive measures, the reality is far from it. A majority of incidents are due to preventable human error or simple methods of attack such as stolen credentials. Second, that cybersecurity isn\u2019t just a personal issue that affects our individual PII and sensitive financial information (though these are key concerns too). It is a matter of national security and potentially affects every single one of us with the repercussions of attacks on national entities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quite simply, we can\u2019t take cybersecurity and data protection seriously enough, at the personal level, at the organizational level, and at the national\/international level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For enterprises and other organizations, emphasizing a culture of data security from top-down (embraced by leaders and workers alike) goes a long way toward heading off human error and mistakes which could lead to stolen credentials and subsequent breaches. Also, expanding the toolkit of preventative data protection methods is an absolute necessity. Let\u2019s face it\u2014traditional protections just aren\u2019t working, mostly because they focus on the borders around sensitive data and access through those borders. The solution is actually quite simple: protect the data itself! Data-centric methods such as tokenization and format-preserving encryption obfuscate sensitive data elements while retaining data format, making this approach ideal for organizations that want to work with protected data within their workflows without de-protecting that data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">No matter who gets hold of the data, it remains protected and cannot be leveraged. We should all be united in a commitment to a world-wide culture of better data security, bolstered by data-centric protection in case the worst-case scenario occurs and threat actors actually access highly sensitive information.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>Troy Gill<\/b><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Troy Gill is Senior Manager of Threat Intelligence at <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/appriver.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Zix | AppRiver<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;It\u2019s likely that hackers got into UN systems easily enough \u2013 by just logging in. Stolen credentials are sold on the Dark Web all the time, and cyber-criminals jump at the chance to strike any vulnerable organization, let alone one with a global reach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although the United Nations is a large organization, it could still benefit from educating its employees on the same security practices used by smaller firms to protect their passwords and personal information. Credential stuffing and password spraying techniques will continue to be inevitable, which is why employees must take simple precautions such as using password management or utilizing multi-factor authentication across their devices to protect their data.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>Javvad Malik<\/b><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Javvad Malik is a Security Awareness Advocate of <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knowbe4.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">KnowBe4<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Organizations of all sizes and verticals are continually targeted, so all should take care, in particular, government and other international groups need to be extra vigilant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In many cases, relatively simple and known methods are used by criminals to break into organizations, be that taking advantage of weak passwords, unpatched software or social engineering. A culture of security is important to build so that beyond the right technologies, the right procedures and awareness amongst employees is present to lower the likelihood an attack will be successful.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Thanks to the experts for their time and expertise on the UN data breach. For more, check out the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/get-a-free-identity-and-access-management-software-solutions-buyers-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Identity Management Buyer&#8217;s Guide<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"widget\"><div class=\"aside-card\">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p><a class=\"iam-inject\" href=\"https:\/\/suggestionengine.solutionsreview.com\/buyer\/signup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1682\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2021\/02\/Identity_Suggestion_Engine_Horiz_800.gif\" alt=\"IAM Solution Suggestion Engine\" width=\"800\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The United Nations (UN) recently confirmed suffering a data breach in April and facing multiple similar attacks in the months since. Private cybersecurity company Resecurity contacted the UN earlier in the year upon discovering dark web chatter indicating UN credentials were up for sale. Hold Security also informed CNN that it had made similar observations [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":4578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[142,125,1758,16,11,1204,425,1755,1757,1756],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UN Data Breach: Expert Commentary on a High-Profile Attack<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The United Nations (UN) recently confirmed suffering a data breach in April and facing multiple similar attacks in the months since.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Canner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/\",\"name\":\"UN Data Breach: Expert Commentary on a High-Profile Attack\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-10T16:22:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-15T14:43:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/#\/schema\/person\/357f925262827fcf840b4341920a1541\"},\"description\":\"The United Nations (UN) recently confirmed suffering a data breach in April and facing multiple similar attacks in the months since.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/files\/2019\/09\/swam.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"UN Data Breach: Expert Commentary on a High-Profile Attack\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/un-data-breach-expert-commentary-on-a-high-profile-attack\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UN Data Breach: Expert Commentary on a High-Profile Attack\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/identity-management\/\",\"name\":\"Identity and Access Management Solutions | Solutions Review\",\"description\":\"Evaluating Enterprise IAM Software, Identity Governance &amp; 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