NAPLES, Fla., April 7th, 2020 – New Net Technologies (NNT), a leading global provider of enterprise security and compliance software, and Greenbone Networks, a vulnerability management specialist today announced they are giving away 1,000 Greenbone Community Edition (GCE) software licenses to all essential service providers globally helping them to boost the resilience of their IT infrastructures as they focus on fighting the spread of COVID-19.
Businesses across the world are being forced to shut their doors in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with cybercriminals looking to take advantage of these organizations through various COVID-19 themed email and web-based cyber-attacks. In fact, research released last week found that 80 percent of today’s threat landscape is using the coronavirus as the theme of their cyber-attacks. While other businesses have been forced to closed, businesses that provide “COVID-19 Essential Services” remain open and on the front lines battling potentially devastating cyber threats. These services include medical professionals and caregivers, law enforcement and first responders, food and agriculture workers, energy and utility providers, transportation workers, and more.
One industry that is particularly vulnerable during this time is the healthcare sector. Hackers are already leveraging the spread of COVID-19 in order to make money and wreak havoc. On March 16, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services was targeted by a DDoS attack designed to slow down its systems, while a number of European-based hospitals have also reported they have been targeted by criminals.
Greenbone Networks and non-profit newsroom, ProPublica, conducted an investigation last year that uncovered a serious lack of security controls across medical images and health data belonging to millions of Americans. It was found that X-rays, MRIs and CT scans, are sitting unprotected on the internet and available to anyone with basic computer expertise.
Dirk Schrader, Cyber Resilience Architect at Greenbone Networks said: “Our research last year identified 187 servers in the U.S. that were unprotected by passwords or basic security precautions, with some servers running outdated operating systems with known security vulnerabilities. We recognize the significant cybersecurity risks in this sector and want to do all that we can to help healthcare organizations and other essential businesses protect highly sensitive data.”
Up to 1,000 free 12-month GCE software licenses are being made immediately available to global essential services providers which need help improving their cybersecurity posture and achieving compliance. These organizations can use GCE to automatically scan for and patch vulnerabilities in their own IT infrastructures.
As Schrader explains: “Data breaches are often the result of unpatched vulnerabilities, so identifying and eliminating these security gaps reduces the number of attack vectors open to the hackers. In addition, cybersecurity compliance regulations such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) emphasize vulnerability scanning to protect sensitive data and exposure of this data could violate these regulations.”
Mark Kerrison, CEO at NNT explains: “As workers in essential services and workforces face increased vulnerabilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerability management is needed now more than ever before to help keep the hackers out. NNT is pleased to be working with Greenbone Networks to help these organizations to defend against threats that could potentially risk the safety of patients and consumers.”
Essential service providers can request a 12-month license of the GCU vulnerability scanner here.
About New Net Technologies (NNT):
NNT is the leading provider of SecureOps™. SecureOps™ combines the essential, foundational security controls as prescribed by all leading security frameworks such as CIS and NIST with the operational discipline of change management. By ensuring you have the prescribed essential security controls in place combined with the ability to correlate changes within your environment with an approved ticket or set of intelligent rules, organizations are able to prevent and protect themselves against all forms of breach as well as gaining full control of changes for both security and operational peace of mind. For more information, visit www.newnettechnologies.com
About Greenbone Networks:
Founded in 2008, Greenbone Networks is a leading, global provider of vulnerability management solutions. Based on open-source software, the Greenbone Security Manager (GSM) analyses IT network devices – including desktop computers, servers, software applications, routers and VoIP devices – identifying security vulnerabilities, providing detailed reports and instructions to resolve security issues before attackers are able to exploit them. The solutions include a daily, automatic security update. Greenbone's vulnerability management solutions are deployed in more than 30,000 installations and integrations across a broad range of industries and company sizes, and its vulnerability management software has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times. Greenbone is headquartered in Osnabrueck, Germany.
Read the press release on PRNewswire here
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