Texas Refuses to Pay $2.5M in Massive Ransomware Attack
The state of Texas is so far refusing to comply with the demands of a ransomware attack that affected 22 local governments, the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) reports. None of the affected municipalities have paid the $2.5 million ransom demanded. On August 16, a coordinated ransomware campaign hit systems of cities and towns…
Attackers Hit Ceiling in Ransomware Demands
Cyber extortionists’ ransom demands have surged in recent years, as ransomware cotinues to cripple the operations of manufacturers, hospitals, and — most recently — local governments. Yet those demands may have hit an upper limit. On September 4, Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Mass., announced that the town refused to pay a $5.3 million…
Fileless attacks designed to disguise malicious activity up 265%
Trend Micro published its roundup report for the first half of 2019, revealing a surge in fileless attacks designed to disguise malicious activity. Detections of this threat alone were up 265% compared to the first half of 2018. “Sophistication and stealth are the name of the cybersecurity game today as corporate technology and criminal attacks…
Ransomware attacks hit 1 in 5 Americans
Anomali announced the results of a survey conducted by The Harris Poll. It includes responses from more than 2,000 American adults and reveals how Americans believe business and government organizations should respond to ransomware attacks as well as their opinions on cybersecurity in general. This survey suggests that Americans believe government and businesses alike should…
Researchers reveal the latest lateral phishing tactics
Emails coming from legitimate, compromised accounts are difficult to spot, both for existing email protection systems and the recipients themselves. Lateral phishing tactics Researchers from Barracuda, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego have studied 180 lateral phishing incidents and have identified the following patterns organizations and individuals should be aware of: One in 10 of…
Phishing is a billion-dollar global industry, consumers are the main target
Phishing is a growing pain point for individuals, businesses and CSPs, according to Allot. Consumers are the main target of these attacks, and they are calling for better security for their data and financial information. The research shows that they are right to be concerned. The data showed that during Q1 2019, 7 million European…
Data breach fallout haunts companies long after the fact
Data breaches have become a priority in most business’ cybersecurity agenda. The series of breaches that companies experienced in 2018 emphasized what security experts have warned about – that threats are ever present and persistent. Last year, even companies with market capitalizations in the billions of dollars like Under Armor, and Marriott fell victim to…
How can attackers abuse artificial intelligence?
But a new report published by the SHERPA consortium – an EU project studying the impact of AI on ethics and human rights – finds that while human attackers have access to machine learning techniques, they currently focus most of their efforts on manipulating existing AI systems for malicious purposes instead of creating new attacks…
Anatomy of a ransomware attack: How attackers gain access to unstructured data
Ransomware isn’t a new phenomenon, but it’s effects are starting to be felt more widely, and more deeply than ever before. Behemoths like Sony, Nissan, FedEx, Kraft Foods and Deutsche Bank have all been hit in recent years, and the list is growing. The ongoing saga of the ransomware attack in Baltimore, MD has left…
How past threats and technical developments influence the evolution of malware
If we want to anticipate how malware will evolve in the near future, we have to keep two things in mind: past threats and current technical developments. “The evolution of malware-related threats is like a sine wave movement, re-infused by new technology developments,” Christiaan Beek, Lead Scientist and Senior Principal Engineer, McAfee, told Help Net…