Attacker Breakout Time refers to the time it takes for an intruder to begin moving laterally outside of the initial beachhead to other systems in the network. Threat actors are accelerating their attacks and adopting innovative new ways to circumvent endpoint detection mechanisms, according to a new report from ReliaQuest. The threat intelligence vendor claimed in its latest Threat Spotlight report for the period June–August 2025 that the average breakout time dropped to only 18 minutes. One
akira (4)
An electric utility serving multiple counties in Mississippi was attacked by cybercriminals last summer in an incident that exposed information of more than 20,000 residents. The Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association initially warned customers through social media on 26 August 2024 that, due to software problems, they were unable to process payments. The system was restored by 30 August.
In breach notification letters filed with regulators last week, the utility confirmed it discovered “susp
A recent Chainalysis report indicates that 2024 is set to be the highest-grossing year for ransomware payments. 2023 is the current record holder in that regard, surpassing the $1 billion dollar mark, which was an interesting development given the significant decline in ransomware payments that occurred in 2022. In the chart we have below, we can see a clear trendline indicating an increasing trend since 2019. In hindsight, it may be more useful to view 2022 as an anomaly. The mid-year total
Since March 2023, Akira ransomware has impacted a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure entities in North America, Europe, and Australia. In April 2023, following an initial focus on Windows systems, Akira threat actors deployed a Linux variant targeting VMware ESXi virtual machines. As of 1 January 2024, the ransomware group has impacted over 250 organizations and claimed approximately $42 million USD in ransomware proceeds.
Early versions of the Akira ransomware variant were wr
