​
Canada ranked number
in the number of data records stolen in 2020
Average ransom payment
in 2020
Average downtime days in 2020
due to ransomware attack
Percentage of all cyberattacks
against the SMBs in 2020
Average real cost to recover
from a ransomware attack in 2020
Average days to fully recover in 2020
from ransomware attack

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CYBERSECURITY BUMPS ON THE ROAD TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
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Digital Transformation is not an abstract idea. It is vital to businesses' competitiveness and, often, its survival. The pandemic further presented new challenges, forcing companies to accelerate their digital transformation journey dramatically. It demanded a fast response from IT departments, frequently without taking the necessary precautions.

​The ensuing elevated exposure to cyberattacks too often results in a loss of protected or business-sensitive information, business disruption and loss of productivity, loss of brand reputation, customer loyalty and revenue, and regulatory or legal action.

These pandemic-triggered challenges will continue to morph into what is anticipated to become the post-pandemic hybrid work environment, increasingly coupled with an onslaught of more complex, frequent, automated, and AI-driven cyberattacks. This is top of mind for 63% of Canadian CISO's polled by Proofpoint.

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ABOUT INTERLAN CONSULTING

InterLAN was founded in 1991 by Jakov Zaidman, company president and principal consultant. InterLAN completed hundreds of cybersecurity and network infrastructure engagements with well over one hundred organizations in Canada and the US.

We bring extensive cybersecurity expertise to enhance cyber defences in customer's cloud environments, enterprise networks, and industrial control networks. Our SMB-focused agile consulting services assess your company's readiness and translate technical risks into business risks relevant to your industry. From there, we build your cybersecurity program from the ground up or improve your existing program to bolster your cyber resilience.

InterLAN will collaborate with your IT and business teams to drive down the cyber risk to a level acceptable to your business by developing an overall risk mitigation strategy that is underpinned by a sound technical cybersecurity architecture, policies, processes, threat intelligence and awareness, incident detection and response, with refocused spending on cybersecurity.​
Jakov Zaidman
​Founder ​and
Principal Consultant
YEARS IN BUSINESS
ORGANIZATIONS SERVED
PROJECTS COMPLETED

CYBERSECURITY RISKS WE MITIGATE

[ click to expand/collapse ]​

Ransomware emerged as the most prevalent and impactful threat to any organization. According to the World Economic Forum 2020 cybercrime report, cybercrime continues to increase at the fastest rate of all types of crime. Gangs and cartels that form this criminal ecosystem are increasingly brazen. They operate as a real business, with mailing lists, press relations, victim hotlines, and hall-of-shame sites that leak data to pressure those who refused to pay. All to solidify their ruthless 'we mean business' reputation and maximize profits. They use shady 'bulletproof' hosting providers and rent virtual servers in targeted countries to cover their tracks. Many of them act with impunity while operating from safe havens for as long as they refrain from attacking local entities and assist with sanctions evasion or cyber-espionage activities. This co-mingling of nation-state and cybercrime gives hackers access to advanced tools and knowledge to breach any vulnerable target.

The hackers engage in direct attacks and offer Ransomware-as-a-Service to others, which in 2020 accounted for two-thirds of all attacks. They are pivoting from extortion through data hijacking to double-extortion through data theft, company shaming, posting private data on public sites, sending it to companies' competitors. They are launching DDoS attacks to pressure the victim, and some are harassing company staff or threatening physical violence against executives' families. The latest estimates put ransom paid globally in 2020 at $18 billion, an 80% increase from 2019. The FBI estimates that 4,000 ransomware attacks are launched daily just in the US. Stats Canada reported that a fifth of Canadian businesses were impacted by cybersecurity incidents in 2019 while three quarter of all business are continuing to rely on ineffective legacy cybersecurity techniques. There were 4,257 reported ransoms paid in Canada, with a total cost of $165 million. Still, most incidents go unreported as victims try to protect their reputations.​

The surge in ransomware is accompanied by attacks against partners, suppliers and software supply-chain vulnerabilities, such as SolarWind, Passwordstate, Mimecast, M.E. Doc, and Asus, to name a few. ​Relentless zero-day attacks target unknown vulnerabilities. The pace of change and complexity of I.T. environments result in misconfigurations that attackers exploit. Internet-wide scanning to enumerate vulnerable systems starts within minutes of vulnerability announcements. New attacks are launched within days of patch releases to target unpatched or misconfigured systems. Botnet attacks are launched against the profoundly insecure SCADA/IoT/IIoT/OT/ICS critical infrastructure and Industry 4.0 operational technology environments. The attackers continue account credentials spraying and stuffing attempts, phishing and spear-phishing, business email compromise, and attacks against on-premises and cloud/SaaS services.

Given the shift in how organizations work from home during and, likely as a hybrid post-pandemic, threat actors take advantage of the new attack opportunities to extort money and steal intellectual property and protected information. Like water, hackers look for weak spots and the easiest way in, in the process bypassing the stricter security controls. As companies focus on implementing point solutions with the hope of improving their defences against known threats, the highly motivated, well-funded, and agile hackers swiftly pivot to new attack vectors, targeting organizations with weak cyber controls. 

According to a Ponemon Institute study, over half of the SMBs believe that they are too small to be targeted. Yet, according to a Verizon study, 43% of all attacks target SMBs. You are not hacked because they want to hack you; you are hacked because you are there; hacking SMBs is easy, and the ROI is high. As new breaches are announced with numbing frequency, they are just the tip of the iceberg that hides the large numbers of attacks against the small and medium-size companies who also have weaker defences than the large enterprises. These attacks result in significant and, often, terminal impacts on SMB's.

The threat landscape is constantly shifting. Attackers are reinvesting their high profits in developing new tactics, techniques and procedures. They are adopting sophisticated bots, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and they increasingly offer Cybercrime-as-a-Service. It now takes only days to exploit newly disclosed vulnerabilities and leaves the defenders no room for error. Yet, software and hardware companies that are selling vulnerable technologies are barely motivated to keep them secure. Since the early 90s, and still today, the vendors are taking the "patch and pray" approach, putting the burden of security and the consequences of breaches on their customers.

Some businesses rely on cyber insurance to pay the ransom and cover some of the other breach losses. But that would not prevent further breaches. Claims and gaps in the company's security posture impact premiums and do not cover all losses. Some cyber-insurers started invoking 'war exclusions' to avoid paying anything during large-scale attacks, such as NotPetya and SolarWinds, and there is a push across many jurisdictions to make it illegal to pay a ransom. AXA Insurance in France was the first to adjust their terms to not reimburse for ransom payments - and was itself hit with a retaliatory ransomware attack.

Data from the U.S. National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) points to a 32% increase in claims from 2018 to 2019, with the average claim size increasing by 65%, and with organizations with revenues between $100M-$250M were 5x as likely to file claims as compared to smaller organizations. At the same time, losses experienced by small businesses, although less frequent, were disproportionately more impactful. Together, the growing frequency and severity of claims translate into growing cyber risks faced by organizations of all shapes and sizes. However, some industries did stand out: consumer (retail, hospitality, and food), industrial (energy and manufacturing), healthcare, and financial services. Yet critical infrastructure, municipal services and education have not been spared. The bulk of incident types were ransomware (41%), funds transfer fraud (27%), and email compromise (19%), accounting for 87% of all known attack types.

Looking ahead towards 2022, threat actors are expected to take advantage of the pandemic and remote work environment, further using ML/AI capabilities to locate and attack vulnerable targets faster and on a massive scale. They will continue introducing more advanced evasion techniques to avoid early detection and expand double-extortion and parallel DDoS attacks to increase the amount and the likelihood of ransom payouts. Sophisticated supply chain attacks will continue due to their hit one reach many effects. There will be increased attacks against companies utilizing operational technology (O.T.) since industrial control systems remain a soft target. Yet, due to the Colonial Pipeline attack impact and the law enforcement attention, there are early indications that at least two significant ransomware-as-a-service gangs (DarkSide and REvil) are becoming more 'socially responsible'; they are moving away from attacking critical infrastructure, government, education and healthcare, only to shift their focus to other verticals.​

Companies can defend against these widespread cyber attacks by establishing a cybersecurity program that contemplates relevant cyber threats with organization-specific risk, elevating cybersecurity on the corporate risk register. This should be accompanied by leadership mandates and an organization-wide commitment that empowers every employee as a cybersecurity stakeholder. With intelligent investment in cybersecurity technology, processes, and awareness, your organization can stay ahead of the attackers, significantly reduce the likelihood of a breach; and be prepared to detect, eradicate, and recover from incidents. Once improvements to cybersecurity posture make your company' too expensive' to attack, the attackers are motivated to go after other, softer targets.
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CYBERSECURITY SERVICES

ASSESSMENT SERVICES

InterLAN will employ industry best practices and accepted frameworks to assess your cybersecurity program, threats, risk, and maturity, identify gaps, and provide remediation recommendations.
  • Cybersecurity threat risk assessment (TRA)
  • Cybersecurity maturity assessment (MA)
  • High-risk data and privacy impact assessment (PIA)
  • Regulatory and best practices compliance assessment (CIS Controls, PIPEDA, PCI, HIPAA, PHIPA, GDPR, NIST CSF, NERC)
  • Third-party, supply chain, and vendor cybersecurity due diligence
  • M&A IT/cybersecurity due diligence
  • Network infrastructure, IT and cloud strategy assessment
  • Disaster recovery plan assessment
  • DevSecOps practices assessment
  • Cyber insurance assessment

ADVISORY SERVICES

InterLAN offers a wide range of advisory services to improve your organization's cybersecurity maturity or help meet regulatory compliance:
  • Develop and implement cybersecurity framework, governance and IT risk management program that will drive down the risk and help meet regulatory compliance
  • Develop Cybersecurity Policies, Standards and Guidelines that address typical and pandemic-influenced work-from-home conditions
  • Develop a cohesive cybersecurity architecture, technical solutions, associated processes, and disaster recovery plan that align with the organization's risk tolerance and conform with your information security policy to protect corporate email systems, SaaS and cloud services, IT, and OT infrastructure
  • Facilitate 24x365 monitoring and security operations
  • Provide customized awareness training to IT and users
  • Facilitate vulnerability assessment and penetration testing
  • Operationalize partner and supply-chain risk management
  • Deliver cross-functional incident response tabletop exercises and coaching services
  • Facilitate cyber insurance policy
  • Manage response to real cybersecurity incidents​

VIRTUAL CISO SERVICES

Dealing effectively with cybersecurity challenges requires the full engagement of the C-suite that extends into a cybersecurity-empowered organization. A part-time chief information security officer keeps cybersecurity in senior leadership's view. We protect the organization by securing the technology and information that enables the organization by aligning cybersecurity with business goals and opportunities.

​The vCISO provides your board and executives with senior cybersecurity expertise on a cost-effective part-time retainer basis. The vCISO offers strategic, practical and effective cybersecurity advice to help navigate change and translate cyber risk into business outcomes and regulatory risks without impeding your ability to conduct business.

The vCISO will champion cybersecurity governance and board reporting, changing regulations, data loss and fraud prevention, security architecture, identity and access management, third-party and vendor risk management, incident response, remediation and investigation, and overall improvement of your cybersecurity program. We will guide team development and employee awareness training to help your employees become part of the solution instead of being part of the problem.​

INDUSTRY VERTICALS

Financial  and Insurance

Law Firms

Aviation and Tourism

Healthcare

Telecom

Government

Retail

Innovation Hubs and Startups

Technology

Pharma and BioTech

Manufacturing

Education

ENGAGEMENTS

VIEW THE LIST
​3Com Canada
4 Finance
4 Tell
About Communications (bluArc)
AC Nielsen
Acasta Capital
Ajilon
AlarmForce
Aliant
Ann Taylor
Archer Enterprise Systems
Asigra
ATB Bank
Atlantic Lottery Corporation
Bank of Montreal
Bell Canada
BF Goodrich Canada
Biway
Cactus Club
Cadillac Fairview
Canadian Federation of Independent Business
Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Tire
Cara Operations
Cedarpoint Investments
Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine
CGU Group (IAG)
Changepoint
Chartwell
CI Mutual Funds
CIBC
City of Fredericton
Club Monaco
CN Tower
Colliers International
Compaq Canada
Corus Entertainment
Cotton Ginny
Council of Ministers of Education, Canada
CPPIB
Cunningham Lindsey
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
De Beers Canada
Deep Genomics
​Defence Construction Canada, Government of Canada
Digital Equipment of Canada
Dow Chemical
DRI Capital
Dylex
EDS Canada
Elections Ontario
Elementary Teachers Foundation of Ontario
Equitable Insurance Life Co.
Fairweather
Fifth Wheel
​​Fitness Depot
Gen5
GlaxoSmithKline
Gluskin Sheff + Associates
Government of Ontario
Grand Challenges Canada
Harry Rosen
Hatch
Hudson's Bay
Ian Martin
IMG
Impark
Imprivata
Infobright
Indigo
Insite (F12)
Intel
IOF Foresters
Ivanhoe Cambridge
Johnson & Johnson
Jonas Software
LaSenza
Laurentian University
League
Loblaws
LV Lomas
Macy’s
Maple Leaf Foods
MaRS Discovery District
Masonite
McCarthy Tétrault
​McDonalds Canada
MCI/SHL Systemhouse
McLean Budden
Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt
MFS
Minturn Partners
MNP
Mount Sinai Hospital
Mozido
Mr. Lube
Nevele
New Brunswick Power
Newstar
Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation
​Onex Corporation
Ontario Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation
Ontario Genomics
Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
Ontario Telemedicine Network
Orderline
​Pet Palace
Pharmacology Research Institute
Pizza Pizza
Premiere Suites
Prescient International
Rogers
​​Romspen
Royal Bank Dominion Securities
Saputo
Sears Canada
Sears Financial
Sears Home Services
Serruya Private Equity
Sheridan College
Signature Vacations
Sionna
SiriusXM
Skoda
Skyservice
St. John Ambulance
Storage Guardian
Sunwell
Suzy Shier
T4G Limited
Taylor Thomson
Tembec
Tip Top Tailors
Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners
Toronto Pearson Airport (GTAA)
Tourism British Columbia
Tourism New Brunswick
Vestacon
Vinylgraphics
West Face Capital

CONTACT US

Book a free consultation to discover how InterLAN can mitigate your cyber risks​.

403 - 7171 Yonge St.
Markham, ON L3T 0C5
​Canada

email: info @ interlan.ca
​telephone: +1 416-410-4526
​
​or complete the form below.
Canada ranked number
in the number of data records stolen in 2020
Average ransom payment
in 2020
Average downtime days in 2020
due to ransomware attack
Percentage of all cyberattacks
against the SMBs in 2020
Average real cost to recover
from a ransomware attack in 2020
Average days to fully recover in 2020
from ransomware attack