Major US newspapers crippled by Ryuk ransomware attack
Ryuk ransomware is believed to be the culprit behind printing and delivery issues for “all Tribune Publishing newspapers” — as well as newspapers that used to be part of Tribune Publishing. The malware was discovered and later quarantined on Friday, but the security patches failed to hold when the servers were brought back online and…
Backdoors Up 44%, Ransomware Up 43% from 2017
Backdoor and ransomware detections increased 44% and 43%, respectively, in 2018, the same year nearly 30% of computers faced at least one malicious threat online, researchers report. The Kaspersky Security Bulletin 2018 found malware should be among everyone’s top concerns as we head into the new year. Kaspersky Labs handled 346,000 new malicious files each…
Vaporworms: New breed of self-propagating fileless malware to emerge in 2019
WatchGuard Technologies’ information security predictions for 2019 include the emergence of vaporworms, a new breed of fileless malware with wormlike properties to self-propagate through vulnerable systems, along with a takedown of the internet itself and ransomware targeting utilities and industrial control systems. “Cyber criminals are continuing to reshape the threat landscape as they update their…
Cryptomining dethrones ransomware as top threat in 2018
Based on trends in the first half of 2018, Webroot found that cybercriminals are shifting to increasingly sophisticated and targeted means of attack while also expanding their money making endeavors, as shown by the uptick in cryptojacking and cryptomining. There has been a massive shift from ransomware to cryptomining Malware in general, including ransomware and…
10 Threats Lurking on the Dark Web
Security pros can never rest. Even with the operation last year that took down AlphaBay and Hansa, industry experts say many groups continue to trade in malware, ransomware, and stolen credentials on the Dark Web, and that the criminals who were caught simply reorganized. “People need to understand that there’s an underground economy – a…
SamSam Ransomware: Patient, Persistent, Competent and Dangerous
The SamSam ransomware has always been a bit different. Unlike many ransomware infections, its victims are targeted rather than random — and the attacker establishes a presence on the victim network before beginning the encryption process. Victims this year include the City of Atlanta, Allscripts, Adams Memorial Hospital, Colorado Department of Transportation and the Mississippi…
How to Achieve Ransomware Recovery — Without Paying Ransom
Without a ransomware recovery strategy, companies sometimes end up paying to retrieve their data after an attack. At the same time, threat actors are growing more sophisticated in their ability to bypass both antivirus and anti-ransomware tools — thus, they’re also growing bolder. To stay ahead of the curve, organizations will need to develop more…
Cybercrime tactics & techniques Q2 2018
A generally slow quarter reflects an overall lull in cybercrime, picking up where Q1 left off with cryptominers continuing to dominate, ransomware continuing to evolve through experimentation, and exploits making a small but significant comeback. In nearly every malware category for both business and consumer detections, we saw a decrease in volume, corroborating our general…
Ransomware back in big way, 181.5 million attacks since January
SonicWall announces record numbers for malware volume, ransomware attacks, encrypted threats and chip-based attacks in the mid-year update of the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report. “Real-time cyber threat intelligence is more critical than ever as cybercriminals continue to find new attack vectors — like encrypted and chip-based attacks,” said Chad Sweet, CEO at The Chertoff…
10 ways to prevent, detect and recover from ransomware and zeroday threats
Ransomware is a kind of malware that typically encrypts data, blocking access to it until a fee is paid to the attacker. While the hype used to outweigh the actual risk, ransomware has evolved, spread and grown rapidly more sophisticated in response to our efforts to defend against it. There have been some high-profile ransomware…