Following the disclosure of a global ransomware cyberattack that compromised IT software supplier Kaseya, and which has now affected over a thousand companies;

David Bicknell, principal analyst, Thematic Research at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“This extremely serious attack highlights the supply chain’s vulnerability to ransomware attacks. 2020 was a challenging year for cybersecurity, and things have got worse in 2021. Last year’s SolarWinds attack showed that hackers breaching one provider magnifies the cyber threat and provides an opportunity to launch a bigger attack at scale.

“Small and medium-sized companies will suffer the most. They trust their managed service providers for support and now face potentially devastating ransomware attacks delivered through IT management software used by those very managed service providers.

“This attack, which follows soon after the Colonial Pipeline and JBS breaches, means the cybersecurity industry, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Biden administration must take urgent steps to provide greater cyber resilience for smaller companies. If they fail to do so, then 2021 will see the launch of one successful supply chain cyberattack after another.”