Citrix Cyber Attack

Citrix Cyber Attack

            In March 2019, Citrix Systems, an American multinational firm, encountered a security breach when hackers managed to access and acquire massive confidential documents residing in their servers. Citrix is a software firm that offers a range of computer software solutions including desktop and application virtualization, server and networking services, cloud computing and SaaS or “Software as a Service” and many other services. According to O’Flaherty (2019), the FBI contacted Citrix and informed them that international hackers had gained access to the company’s internal network, where they managed to acquire critical documents.

Following the forensic investigations by Security, a security company contracted by Citrix to investigate the security breach, the company realized that IRIDIUM, an Iranian-connected group perpetrated the attacks. The forensic investigations established that Citrix had received an early warning against a security threat. Notably, IRIDIUM has previously managed to conduct security breaches to various government agencies as well as petroleum manufacturing companies.

For IRIDIUM to have a successful network intrusion and acquire more than six terabytes of critical information held by the Citrix infrastructure including procurement and project management data, it used a combination of tools, procedures and techniques. FBI realized that IRIDIUM adopted the spraying technique that involves the exploitation of weak passwords.

However, with proper information governance, Citrix could have prevented this attack. Usually, hackers understand the confidentiality of the information they target. When they gain access, therefore, they typically go straight to the target location. One of the essential things that information governance could have done is to eradicate any invaluable information for improved Security. Also, information governance would have ensured that every critical data and data resides in the most secure place. While noting that employees use the shortest route to accomplish their tasks, information governance would have ensured that employees have an easy way to store data in the most secure locations.

References

O’Flaherty, K. (2019). Why The Citrix Breach Matters — And What To Do Next. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2019/03/10/citrix-data-breach-heres-what-to-do-next/#b9271bb14763