Earlier this week, RSA Conference was honored to host Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who outlined the Biden Administration’s vision for cybersecurity resilience. Before laying out his road map for the future, Mayorkas recognized some hard truths. “Our government got hacked last year and we didn’t know about it for months. … This incident is one of many that underscores a need for the federal government to modernize cybersecurity defenses and deepen our partnerships,” he said.

Following his remarks, the Secretary was joined by Judith Batty, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, for a fireside chat, during which time they spoke about their joint goals for addressing the skills gap with a focus on the benefits of diversity, equity and inclusion. The Secretary’s address came a day after White House officials announced a forthcoming Executive Order which will reportedly include nearly a dozen action items intended to augment cybersecurity at the federal level.

All the while, cybercriminals were busy attacking public schools, medical researchers and American beer makers. Let’s take a look at what else made industry headlines this week.

Apr. 2: Broward County Public Schools—one of the nation’s largest school systems—is the latest victim of a ransomware attack in which cybercriminals are demanding $40 million to restore access to files.

Apr. 1: Bleeping Computer reported, “The US Department of Justice warns of phishing attacks using fake post-vaccine surveys to steal money from people or tricking them into handing over their personal information.”

Apr. 1: Security researchers at Google discovered a fake website, SecuriElite, which they have attributed to the same North Korean government-backed hacking group that was targeting security researchers in January. 

Mar. 31: “A hacking group associated with the Iranian government targeted senior medical researchers in the U.S. and Israel over the past few months,” The Hill reported.

Mar. 30: WMAZ News warned, “Counterfeit vaccine cards can look just like the real thing, made to order, complete with names and dates.”

Mar. 30: McAfee and Panasonic announced a partnership that “involves both companies jointly creating an SOC to ‘commercialize vehicle security monitoring services,’ with a specific focus on early detection and response,” ZDNet reported. 

Mar. 29: According to a report from AP, suspected Russian hackers gained unauthorized access to the emails of former-acting Secretary of DHS Chad Wolf and those of other cybersecurity staff members who were responsible for threat hunting.

Mar. 29: After suffering a cyberattack on the heels of an anomalous winter storm in Texas, production and shipments at Molson Coors Beverage Company were halted, resulting in the reported loss of 1.7 million barrels of beer.