Open for business… and trouble
The research firms Expanse and 451 research found some pretty troubling news. A two week test revealed that more than 53% of Fortune 500 companies are leaving themselves vulnerable to hackers through open RDP.
What does that mean?
Simply put, RDP is a way to share information. An IT director can use RDP to look through a computer not in the same room as them and diagnose a problem. It’s helpful for tech support, those of us who need tech support, and IT managers. However, RDP can also be used a backdoor that gives a hacker access to a machine.
Earlier this year, we wrote a post on how to close those RDP ports. It’s pretty easy for a hacker to manually place ransomware and/or malware on a machine through an open port once inside. Making sure those ports are closed is a step in the direction of better security.
Who’s at risk?
The two research agencies found even the most tech savvy industries to have the same likelihood of exposure as the less tech savvy. Around 80% of the hospitality industry and just under 80% of defense and aerospace companies had at least one exposure. Defense and aerospace are among the most security conscious industries.
But why?
It seems that IT professionals just aren’t looking for open RDP ports. There doesn’t seem to be enough of a push to make exposure something regularly monitored.
More education and awareness is the key to closing up these security gaps.
For a list of ransomware attacks that have already taken place in 2019, you may click here. We have also created a map, see below, of the ransomware attacks that have taken place in the U.S.
