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<ul><li>Cognizant first-quarter earnings were in the green but worst is yet to come with the full impact of the ransomware attack on its systems to be reflected in the coming quarters.</li><li>Management explained that there are multiple costs — including legal and consulting — associated with the investigation. </li><li>Even now, Cognizant expects that it will take at least until the end of the month to completely restore its systems.</li></ul>Cognizant’s first-quarter earnings were in the green, up by 3.5% in constant currency terms, but the shadow of the Maze ransomware attack on the company’s network still looms large. “We do anticipate the revenue and corresponding margin impact to be in the range of $50 to $70 million for the quarter [Q2],” said Cognizant’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Karen McLoughlin during the earnings call. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75616476" title="Cognizant CEO Brian Humphries warns of a tough 2020— plans to hire 20,000 freshers this year" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> “With the ransomware attack now contained… We are now substantially work from enabled,” added CEO Brian Humphries explaining that the vast majority of revenue impact will only be reflected in the next quarter’s earnings and continue to bear down in the coming year. “[The] ongoing remediation cost will institute through subsequent quarters,” he said. The issue with ransomware attacks, in comparison to other malware, is that the impact goes beyond mere monetary compensation. The company’s reputation takes a hit, clients back out and there’s a huge opportunity cost while security experts try to get systems back online. “We expect to incur certain legal, consulting and other costs associated with the investigation, service restoration and remediation of the breach,” explained McLoughlin. It’s going to take till the end of the month for Cognizant to completely get its systems back online and fully functional, according to Humphries. The ripple effects of a ransomware attack Cognizant isn’t the only company to get hit by Maze ransomware. The malicious software has been blamed for extorting a number of large organisations in the past year. However, the attack on Cognizant is likely the most prolific till date. “Unlike its predecessors, the group behind Maze ransomware delivered on its promises in late 2019 — more than once,” said global cybersecurity company Kaspersky. For instance, in November, when Allied Universal refused to pay up, the criminals <a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/allied-universal-breached-by-maze-ransomware-stolen-data-leaked/">leaked 700MB of internal data online</a> including contracts, termination agreements, digital certificates, and more. The blackmailers said they had published just 10% of what they had stolen and threatened to make the rest available publicly if the target did not cooperate. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75271532" title="Cognizant's ransomware attack is making peers like TCS and Infosys nervous — and they are beefing up security" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> For an IT services company like Cognizant, there’s a ripple effect that goes beyond simply paying the ransom. In addition to locking the company’s files behind a bitcoin paywall — sensitive information was stolen like targets for mergers and acquisitions, profit and loss reports, as well as medical records. “Ransomware attacks often rely on victims making a few basic mistakes that are often quite uncomfortable to confront,” explains Paul Ducklin, the Principal Research Scientist at Sophos. And, as is the case with most blackmail, paying the blackmailers doesn’t necessarily ensure that information won’t be leaked. All you have is a pinky promise from a bad-faith actor that they will keep their word — and Cognizant’s clients seemed to be aware of this little complication. “Some clients opted to suspend access to their networks. Billing was therefore impacted for a period of time, yet the cost of staffing projects remained on our books,” said Humphries. The approach that hackers take is called ‘steal, lock and inform’ because they understand the impact this will have on the company’s reputation. “The attack encrypted some of the internal systems, effectively defaming them and we proactively took other systems offline,” added Humphries. There’s no reset button, there’s no way to get the information back and it takes time to determine how much data has been lost since attackers erase any directories or back-ups a company may have in place. “Backing up data is just a hygiene step that needs to be taken by every data storing facility mandatorily, however it is not enough,” said Saurabh Sharma, a Senior Security Researcher for Kaspersky. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/cognizant-q1-net-falls-16-7-pc-to-usd-367-mn-sees-challenging-demand-environment-in-2020/articleshow/75616476.cms">Cognizant CEO Brian Humphries warns of a tough 2020— plans to hire 20,000 freshers this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/lockdown-hyundai-rolls-out-200-vehicles-from-chennai-plant-on-first-day-of-resuming-operations/articleshow/75642579.cms">Hyundai rolls out 200 vehicles from Chennai plant on first day of resuming operations</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/coranavirus-cases-in-punjab-news-and-updates/articleshow/74771047.cms">Punjab board to promote class 10 students without final exams due to Covid-19 crisis</a>

The Cognizant Maze ransomware saga will show its full impact for many months to come

IT services major <keyword id="28721" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cognizant">Cognizant</keyword> said it has become a victim of the 'Maze' ransomware attack that has caused disruptions to some of its clients.The company, which has about 2 lakh employees based in India, said it is in ongoing communication with clients and has provided them with indicators of compromise (IOCs) and other technical information of a defensive nature. "Cognizant can confirm that a security incident involving our internal systems, and causing service disruptions for some of our clients, is the result of a Maze ransomware attack," Cognizant said in a statement. It added that its internal security teams, supplemented by leading cyber defense firms, are actively taking steps to contain this incident. A ransomware typically logs users out of their own systems through forced encryption of data and asks them to pay a ransom if they want to access the encrypted data. "Cognizant has also engaged with the appropriate law enforcement authorities," the statement noted. The incident comes at a time when businesses have been disrupted by coronavirus pandemic that has forced companies to turn to initiatives like work from home to ensure business continuity. This has also led to concerns around security of data. "Based on present information, we don't believe the reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic or Cognizant's efforts to enable associates to work from home facilitated this incident," a Cognizant spokesperson said. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/ransomware-attacks-are-causing-panic-and-chaos-at-overwhelmed-hospitals-struggling-with-covid-19-and-it-may-be-about-to-get-worse/articleshow/74853955.cms">Ransomware attacks are causing panic and chaos at overwhelmed hospitals struggling with COVID-19, and it may be about to get worse</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/capgemini-india-cognizant-and-others-who-are-giving-salary-hikes-in-times-of-coronavirus/articleshow/75151960.cms">Capgemini India, Cognizant and others who are giving salary hikes in times of Coronavirus</a>

Cognizant hit by Maze ransomware, service disrupted for some clients

<ul><li>The Maze <keyword id="6465154" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ransomware-attack">ransomware attack</keyword> on <keyword id="28721" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cognizant">Cognizant</keyword> workers will have an impact on its revenue and operations in the coming year, according to the company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US.</li><li>The attack has put <keyword id="6357549" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-IT-companies">Indian IT companies</keyword> like Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on alert to continuously monitor their own systems.</li><li>According to Infosys’ chief operating officer, the ransomware attack had nothing to do with working from home. The same attack could have just as easily occurred even if employees were working from an office.</li><li>Other ways to exploit the systems, like phishing and malware, are a greater risk to a network when working from home.</li></ul>The Fortune 500 company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/cognizant-hit-by-maze-ransomware-service-disrupted-for-some-clients/articleshow/75234787.cms">Cognizant</a> was the victim of a ransomware attack last week on Friday, April 17. This has put Indian IT companies like Infosys on high alert. Even though cybercriminals seem to have become more active during the coronavirus lockdown, working from home isn’t the primary issue. It’s about ensuring that networks have advanced threat protection and that they’re continuously monitored for breaches. “We have looked at our own networks and found out that our networks are secure. We’ve invested in advanced protection software which has been deployed at all the endpoints and across the networks,” said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/infosys-earnings-q4-2020-revenue-dividend-profit-and-margins/articleshow/75252356.cms">Pravin Rao</a>, the chief operating officer of Infosys, during the fourth-quarter earnings call on April 20. Tata Consultancy Services (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-ceo-says-the-business-model-is-20-years-old-and-its-time-to-go-employee-lite/articleshow/75243124.cms">TCS</a>) has shifted from the concept of offshore development centres (ODCs) to secure borderless workspaces (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-ceo-says-the-business-model-is-20-years-old-and-its-time-to-go-employee-lite/articleshow/75243124.cms">SBWS</a>). It is also looking into solutions that can help its employees work from home without compromising on security. However, that was already in the works even before news of the Cognizant ransomware broke. "We rejigged our cyber security posture, and all our project management practices and systems to ensure that proper work allocation, work monitoring and reporting continued, so that the high quality and delivery certainty that our customers have come to expect from us was never compromised," TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan explained during the company's earnings call on April 16. The ransomware may hit Cognizant’s revenue, according to company filings made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (<a href="https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&amp;CIK=0001446811&amp;owner=exclude&amp;count=40&amp;hidefilings=0">SEC</a>). Not only did the attack have an immediate impact, but continues to cause disruption in parts of its business processes. The Maze ransomware has been around for less than a year, but its damage to businesses and government has only escalated. Ransomware attacks don’t have anything to do with working from home Those behind Maze are known to target IT support companies in the past as well. In October last year, it tried to infiltrate a management service provider (MSP) in Italy by impersonating the Italian Revenue Agency via email, according to a report by Proofpoint. Experts believe this may have been an attempt to gain backdoor access to the MSPs, so that the ransomware could be pushed out to their clients. With the coronavirus pandemic, more employees than ever are working from home. Across the board — for Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and TCS — more than 90% of their employees are working from home. However, working from home isn’t what is making the networks weaker. The same could have just as easily occurred even when employees were working from offices, according to Rao. “Whatever has happened with this ransomware threat, it has nothing to do with work from home. If I look at the vulnerability, it could have happened anywhere irrespective of work from home because it exploited a particular version of a product,” Rao said. IT giants are beefing up their own security Ransomware is persistent enough to attack anywhere but that doesn’t mean that there’s a greater risk to a network when working from home. “Work from home may have a higher impact, less from a security perspective, but more from phishing attacks than data leaks. Security breaches can happen even when you’re working from the office,” said Rao. Last week, between April 13 and April 19, hackers attacked businesses over 22 million times, according to data compiled with Atlas VPN. There were at least 2 million attacks on average per day. During the last 30 days, cybercriminals have tried to infiltrate corporate networks nearly 100 million times. Wipro was already a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/wipro-phishing-attack-computer-system-hacked/articleshow/68918449.cms">victim of one such phishing attack</a> in April last year when employee accounts were used to gain access to customer information. “Successful ongoing cyber resilience will require the strategic alignment of cyber strategies with incident response, business continuity and disaster recovery planning. We’ve got to involve the entire enterprise — from the front office to back,” said Akhilesh Tuteja, co-leader of global <keyword id="6361948" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cybersecurity">cybersecurity</keyword> at KPMG International. Going forward, businesses will need to invest more in cybersecurity, both on having the right tools as well as the right manpower in place. Business-driven risk scenarios are currently lacking, according to a KPMG report on key cybersecurity considerations for 2020. Companies’ operating model needs to be in line with cybersecurity. Not only is that important for IT service companies to keep their networks and revenues secure but also maintain trust with their clients. Note: Story was edited to add TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan quote from earnings call. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/infosys-earnings-q4-2020-revenue-dividend-profit-and-margins/articleshow/75252356.cms">Infosys’ revenue, profit and margin in the red as Coronavirus sweeps over the global economy</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/cognizant-hit-by-maze-ransomware-service-disrupted-for-some-clients/articleshow/75234787.cms">Cognizant hit by Maze ransomware, service disrupted for some clients</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/companies-might-look-to-bring-in-a-new-set-of-workforce-after-covid-19-crisis-bots/articleshow/75263915.cms">Companies might look to bring in a new set of workforce after COVID-19 crisis — bots</a>

Cognizant's ransomware attack is making peers like TCS and Infosys nervous — and they are beefing up security

<ul><li>SBI has issued a warning to its customers to beware of an impending phishing attack. </li><li>CERT-In, India’s nodal cybersecurity agency, issued an advisory after cybercriminals threatened to unleash an attack on major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad. </li><li>The hackers claim to have over 2 million email IDs in their possession. </li></ul>The <keyword id="6354731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-bank-of-india">State Bank of India</keyword> (SBI) has issued a warning for its users to beware of an imminent phishing attack. Be on the lookout for any emails from ‘ncov2019@gov.in’ with the subject like ‘Free COVID-19 Testing’. <div type="twitter" handle="TheOfficialSBI" handlename="State Bank of India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/874974596931371008/R5OJdnqW_normal.jpg" favoritecount="529" retweetcount="255" status="Attention! It has come to our notice that a cyber attack is going to take place in major cities of India. Kindly re… https://t.co/0AlzEw8QwF" createdat="1592745315000" id="1274692359469428737"></div> According to the warning issued by the Computer Emergency Response Team - India (CERT-In) — India’s nodal cybersecurity agency — the attack will target users in major cities across the country primarily in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad. The attackers reportedly have over 2 million email IDs in their kitty. <div type="twitter" handle="IndianCERT" handlename="CERT-In" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/737278813126545408/gRf5_7yO_normal.jpg" favoritecount="496" retweetcount="437" status="CERT-In issued advisory on COVID 19-related Phishing Attack Campaign by Malicious Actors. https://t.co/x8WO3TseCM" createdat="1592674717000" id="1274396249517522945"></div> The advisory warned that cybercriminals are expected to send phishing emails to these IDs in the guise of local authorities who are in charge of dispensing government-funded COVID-19 support initiatives. This could be anything from donations to the PM-CARES Fund to EPF contributions. “Such emails are designed to drive recipients towards fake websites where they are deceived into downloading malicious files or entering personal and financial information,” said CERT-In in its notice. Exploitation in the name of the coronavirus Last month, Microsoft also warned its users to beware of another coronavirus themed malware distribution campaign claiming to be from Johns Hopkins University. Emails were being sent out with booby-trapped spreadsheets with headlines like ‘horrible charts’. Opening the file will show you a legitimate chart, but it also installs a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) that allows hackers to control your computer remotely. <div type="image" title="microsoftphishing_edited" msid="76505484" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Horrible charts attachment in phishing emails &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> In May, Seqrite — a cybersecurity company — discovered another RAT attacking cooperative banks in India. Under the guise of being from the Reserve Bank of India or a nationalised bank, attackers were sending out emails that looked innocent enough, referring to COVID-19 guidelines or a financial transaction with a .zip attachment. The attachment included a JAR-based malware that would allow bad actors to take your device from a remote location. How to protect yourself from phishing scams In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, more people working from home — and hackers are more active than ever preying on unsecured networks. “Cybercriminals are exploiting the coronavirus outbreak to send fake emails with dangerous links to employees,” said Norton, a cybersecurity company. As risk escalates, it’s important to maintain a healthy suspicion for emails from email IDs you haven’t seen before, especially if its with respect to any coronavirus news. “Even if they promise news you are interested in, any information in the attachment will almost certainly be available from a more direct source, via a link of your own choosing,” said Paul Ducklin the principal research scientist at Sophos. As a precautionary measure, one should have a malware detection tool or anti-virus installed to alert them in case something slips through the crack. At the minimum, all devices should be fully updated with the latest security patches. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/cognizants-ransomware-attack-is-making-peers-like-tcs-and-infosys-nervous-and-they-are-beefing-up-security/articleshow/75271532.cms">Cognizant's ransomware attack is making peers like TCS and Infosys nervous — and they are beefing up security</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/top-cryptocurrency-scams-of-2019-and-how-most-hackers-got-away-with-it/articleshow/70670383.cms">Top cryptocurrency scams of 2019 — and how most hackers got away with it</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/dont-buy-new-laptops-invest-in-virtual-machines-to-protect-against-cyberattacks-suggests-cybersecurity-expert/articleshow/76274816.cms">Don’t buy new laptops, invest in virtual machines to protect against cyberattacks — suggests cybersecurity expert</a>

SBI warns 2 million users may be at risk of phishing attacks in Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities

Inside New York City Cyber Command - a government agency most people know nothing about that's leading America's biggest city into the future

<ul><li><keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> has teamed with Intel to launch a new remote work platform for its clients. </li><li>The demand for remote work solutions is high amidst the coronavirus pandemic and this could bring in more deal wins for the company. </li><li>Wipro’s new CEO <keyword id="9710643" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="theirry-delaporte">Theirry Delaporte</keyword> expressed that the company will make the investments necessary in order to boost ‘profitable growth’.</li><li>Check out the latest news and updates on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/">Business Insider. </a></li></ul>The demand for work from home solutions is higher than ever before as COVID-19 keeps employees away from the office. As Wipro gears itself up under new leadership, it has joined hands with the computing behemoth Intel in hopes of inking for more deals in the coming quarters. Wipro’s new CEO Theirry Delaporte expressed that the company will be focusing on ‘profitable growth’ in the coming months and Intel seems to be a part of that plan. Aside from cloud solutions, one of the major asks from clients is to enable their employees to work from home — especially from those who didn’t invest enough in their digital transformation over the last few years. They have been bearing the brunt of the coronavirus crisis over the last few weeks, according to Delaporte. “Therefore if we need to make investments, we will make those investments and that will always be our first priority,” explained Wipro CFO Jatin Dalal. Pushing on remote work solutions Intel will enable Wipro’s LIVE Workspace which will be the company’s digital workspace solution within the Intel vPro platform. It’s basically a digital hub that lets a company manage its devices remotely whether it's at home, in the workplace or somewhere remote. It also promises security against firmware-level attacks. Cybersecurity has been a central concern for many companies as the number of malware attacks during the lockdown have been on the rise. Global IT giant Cognizant was subject to a ransomware attack and another US-based law company saw its clients’ personal data get stolen off its servers.

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The Cognizant Maze ransomware saga will show its full impact for many months to come

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