The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, While the state is less than a year away from electing a new governor, New Jersey businesses already know what they’d like to see from him or her after Gov. Phil Murphy completes his second term in office.
Continue reading NJBIA’s 66th Annual Business Outlook Survey: New Jersey’s Lack of Affordability
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 2024 Homeland Threat Assessment in the past month, there has been an uptick in reported ransomware incidents as threat actors continue to target New Jersey private organizations and the public sector, including school districts and local municipalities. The threat actors exploited security vulnerabilities and misconfigured devices to infiltrate systems and networks and encrypt them with ransomware variants, such as Cl0P, BlackCat, LockBit, and Akira. As a result of the attacks, files were at risk of exfiltration and contained personally identifiable information (PII) of users and customers of the victim organizations.
Continue reading Major Uptick in Ransomware Attacks on New Jersey Businesses and Institutions
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, in a state notorious for its worst-in-the-nation business climate, the Murphy Administration timidly unveiled a $300 million tax increase for employers this week, a move Senate Republicans are calling unforgiveable.
Continue reading Murphy Administration Accursed of Deserting New Jersey Businesses
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Middletown NJ, Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R-Monmouth) criticizes Governor Phil Murphy’s latest budget proposal as the state’s economy continues to sink further in the wake of unrelenting lockdown measures, colossal borrowing plans, and lack of effective cost saving applications pushing New Jersey ever so closer to Depression era fallout:
Continue reading Murphy’s Budget Balloon is Full of Hot Air & Ready to Pop
By Tom Bracken and Michele Siekerka, Opportunity NJ
Trenton NJ, Governor Murphy’s recent Budget Address painted an optimistic picture of New Jersey’s current financial health and future prospects, declaring victory on goals that included “restoring fiscal responsibility” and “delivering property tax relief” as if the work were already done. While we appreciate the Governor’s commitment to business growth, workforce development, and investments in infrastructure, making New Jersey a competitive regional powerhouse means forging a difficult path ahead — and this budget proposal won’t get us there.
Continue reading Increased Taxes and Spending Won’t Help New Jersey Grow
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to Garden State Cyber Threat Highlight the FBI and DHS have Issued a PSA on Exploitation of Remote Desktop Protocol.
Over the last several years, the NJCCIC has received incident reports from New Jersey businesses and organizations that were victims of cyber-attacks perpetrated via network access granted through Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), issued a Public Service Announcement (PSA) on Thursday, September 27, detailing threat actors’ increased exploitation of RDP to conduct malicious cyber activities. RDP is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft to enable access to a computer or server over a network connection. However, if not properly secured, threat actors can exploit RDP to steal account credentials, compromise identities, and hold sensitive information for ransom. To protect against RDP-based attacks, the FBI and DHS recommend implementing strong passwords and account lockout policies, enabling multi-factor authentication where possible, keeping systems and software updated, and limiting network exposure for all control system devices. For additional information on how to reduce the risks associated with RDP, the NJCCIC recommends reviewing the FBI and DHS Public Service Announcement and the NJCCIC threat analysis Remote Access: Open Ports Create Targets of Opportunity, Undue Risk.
