Monday Morning Impact – May 25

Published On: May 25, 2020Categories: Buzz, Uncategorized

Covid-19 Raises Stakes for DDoS Attacks

In the midst of the global pandemic, cybercriminals are adjusting their strategy regarding DDoS attacks. According to a report by Russian security vendor, Kaspersky, recent DDoS attacks have increasingly targeted websites of medical organizations, delivery services, and gaming and educational platforms.

In mid-March, for example, attackers tried to disable the website of the US Department of Health and Human Services, seemingly to disable access to official data about the pandemic and measures taken against it. At the same time, unknown cyber actors spread misinformation in social networks and via text and e-mail about the introduction of a nationwide quarantine in the US. The attempt failed, and the HHS website continued to function, despite the increased load. Other recent targets include a large Paris-based hospital group, a pair of European food delivery services, and the online gaming industry. Politically motivated attacks have also been on the rise, as well as attacks on financial institutions.

This quarter has seen a significant increase in both the quantity and quality of DDoS attacks. The number of attacks doubled against the previous reporting period, and by 80% against Q1 2019. The attacks also became longer in average and in maximum duration. The number of DDoS attacks on educational and administrative web resources tripled compared to the same period in 2019. Such attacks in Q1 2020 amounted to 19% of the total number of incidents, against just 11% a year ago. Windows botnets continue to rise. The share of attacks using them grew by 3 percentage points to 5.64%.

Channel Impact®
The upswing in cybercriminal interest in such resources could be linked to the spread of COVID-19, which has created more demand for distance-learning services and official sources of information. Although it is difficult to predict anything at a time of such global instability, it can be assumed that the attacks will not decrease: many organizations are now switching to remote working, and with that the set of viable targets is increasing.

IBM PartnerWorld Program Turns Toward Hybrid Cloud

IBM has updated its PartnerWorld program to help its partner ecosystem more effectively build, service, and sell in today’s hybrid cloud environment.

The company has rolled out new competencies aligned to the Build and Service tracks. To achieve these, partners will need to demonstrate technical proficiency and customer success in strategic solution areas, including vertical industries such as Banking and Financial Services, Industrial and Manufacturing, and areas that span industries, including Regulated Workloads and Application Modernization.

IBM has also announced four partner packages to accelerate learning, development and testing. Benefits include cloud credits to develop on IBM public cloud, access to 16,000 software licenses (including Cloud Paks), SaaS demonstrations, education reimbursement, testing vouchers, technical support and marketing and sales support.

Help with onboarding, access end-of-quarter support 24×7 to close deals faster and connect with other partners and IBM sellers is also available through the Partner Support Desk, which is accessible via phone, email and chat.

Channel Impact®
As the hybrid cloud gains increased momentum, partners need new ways to capture this market opportunity and new revenue streams. The new enhancements are intended to promote those capabilities.

Evolve IP Teams with Ingram Micro for Desktop as a Service

Evolve IP, a Pennsylvania-based provider of remote working cloud solutions, has formed an alliance with Ingram Micro for the sale and deployment of VMWare-based Desktop as a Service (DaaS) throughout the United States and Canada with a projected deployment window of less than one week.

“We’re extremely excited to work with Ingram Micro and deliver an easy-to-manage DaaS solution to their channel partners that can essentially be delivered over the course of a business week,” said Joseph Pedano, EVP of Cloud Engineering at Evolve IP. “The way, and where we work has changed forever, and employees are going to be working from home and other locations well after the threat of COVID-19 has been mitigated.”

Aside from rapid deployment, promised benefits include Windows 10 interoperability; 10 GB Disk for user data and Veeam Backup; a single, standardized desktop image; support for 3rd party 2 Factor Authentication; two Active Directory Servers; and support for VPNs, firewalls, encryption, and VLANs. The solution has been audited for major compliance standards such as HIPAA/HITRUST, PCI-DSS, and SOC2. Comprehensive support packages are also available.

Channel Impact®
With the world more focused on the cloud than ever before, desktop-as-service is enjoying a unique market opportunity. Alliances, such as this one, are intended to remove much of the guesswork for the channel.

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