A New York man accused of running the popular cybercrime forum BreachForums was recently arrested and charged. He is believed to be Pompompurin, an individual whose online moniker was mentioned in several high-profile hacking stories in the past years. It is sad to know that this criminal used the name Pompompurin, which is the name of a good natured Golden Retriever dog character introduced by the Japanese company Sanrio (Hello Kitty) in 1996. The suspect is 21-year-old Conor Brian Fitzpatr
ransomware (345)
One of the US’ largest food distributors has left chefs, owners and restaurant staff across the nation scratching their heads and looking for answers after a disruption to service that began last week. Fort Worth TX based Ben E. Keith issued a public statement last week regarding issues with their systems that left trucks unable to make deliveries to restaurants for days.[1] The full statement reads: "Ben E. Keith recently detected unusual activity in our network. In response, we proactively
Italian sports car maker Ferrari reported on 19 March that a threat actor had demanded a ransom related to customer contact details that may have been exposed in a ransomware attack. “Upon receipt of the ransom demand, we immediately started an investigation in collaboration with a leading global third-party cybersecurity firm,” the iconic car maker said. “In addition, we informed the relevant authorities and are confident they will investigate to the full extent of the law.”
The company did n
Our US government just loves acronyms. Well, here’s a brand new one - RVWP. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Cybersecurity infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is telling organizations across all sectors and of all sizes they are often impacted by damaging ransomware incidents. Many of these incidents are perpetrated by ransomware threat actors using known vulnerabilities. By urgently fixing these vulnerabilities, organizations can significantly reduce their likelihood of experien
Most of us have had or heard from a friend who has been the target of an email scammer pretending to be a friend in distress who needs money wired out of town or out of the country. Now scammers are using the telephone to inform you that your loved one is in distress. And the caller may sound “just like” your friend/relative. At that moment, your instinct would be to do anything to help them escape danger, including wiring money. My father was a victim of such a scam, but he called me first f
Red Sky Alliance would like to share a technical report through a recent joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) as part of an ongoing #StopRansomware effort to publish advisories for network defenders that detail various ransomware variants and ransomware threat actors. These #StopRansomware advisories include recently and historically observed tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) to help organizations protect against ransomware.
Visit stopransomware.gov t
Oakland California officials declared a state of emergency on 14 February after a cyberattack that first hit city technology systems last week, which continues to make it impossible to pay parking fees, fines and taxes online or connect by phone with most city departments. “The Office of the Mayor at Oakland City Hall. Oakland officials declared a state of emergency over a recent cyberattack that hobbled critical government technology systems.” Calls to 911 and city emergency services are stil
The first Linux variant of the Clop ransomware was rife with issues that allowed researchers to create a decryptor tool for victims. SentinelOne said it observed the first Clop (also stylized as Cl0p) ransomware variant targeting Linux systems on 26 December 2022. Clop has existed since about 2019, targeting large companies, financial institutions, primary schools and critical infrastructure across the world. After the group targeted several major South Korean companies like e-commerce giant E
The first Linux variant of the Clop ransomware was rife with issues that allowed researchers to create a decryptor tool for victims. SentinelOne said it observed the first Clop (also stylized as Cl0p) ransomware variant targeting Linux systems on 26 December 2022. Clop has existed since about 2019, targeting large companies, financial institutions, primary schools and critical infrastructure across the world. After the group targeted several major South Korean companies like e-commerce giant E
A ransomware attack that hit ION Trading UK could take days to fix, leaving scores of brokers unable to process derivatives trades. ION Group, the financial data firm's parent company, said in a statement on its website that the attack began last week. "The incident is contained to a specific environment, all the affected servers are disconnected, and remediation of services is ongoing," ION Group said. Ransomware is a form of malicious software deployed by criminal gangs which works by encry
In a recent report, Microsoft warns that phishing, fake software updates and unpatched vulnerabilities are being exploited for ransomware attacks. More than one hundred different cyber-criminal gangs are actively conducting ransomware attacks, deploying over 50 different ransomware families in campaigns which see them encrypt networks and demand a ransom payment for the decryption key. The analysis from Microsoft Security Intelligence notes that some of the most prominent ransomware attacks of
Cyberattacks in the US have significantly increased over the past year, with the healthcare system and other critical sectors being attacked as the threat of malware like ransomware and foreign spyware continues to evolve. During 2022, US government officials and lawmakers renewed their focus on cyber security and sought to secure the country’s critical sectors from rising cyber threats. This issue will increase in 2023, as many of those threats are still escalating while the cyber sector is c
In the last few years, companies, universities, schools, medical facilities and other organizations have been targeted by ransomware threat actors, turning ransomware into the Internet's most severe security crisis. Now, the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have issued a new security warning.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software, or malware that prevents you from accessing your computer files, systems, or networks and d
We are only 10 days into 2023 and already a ransomware attacks continue to escalate. San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is investigating an alleged ransomware attack after the Vice Society ransomware gang claimed to have attacked the agency. BART which is the fifth-busiest heavy rail rapid transit system in the US, was listed on the group’s leak site on Friday. The chief communications officer for BART, reported that they are investigating the data that was stolen and posted by the
Hospitals on the front line of cyberattacks are increasingly strained under the often deadly conditions created by such hacks. Capitalizing on the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber criminals frequently shut down hospital networks at a time when they were overwhelmed, leading to limited emergency services, canceled surgeries, and a spike in deaths. Hackers used to treat hospitals as ‘off limits.’ Not the case anymore.
Cyber-attacks have long been viewed as less lethal than missile strikes,
Cyber threat actors continue to adapt to break the latest technologies, practices, and data privacy laws. All organizations must stay ahead of cybercrime by implementing strong cybersecurity measures and programs for today and the New Year.
Expect an increase in digital supply chain attacks - With the rapid modernization and digitization of supply chains come new security risks. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 45% of organizations worldwide will have experienced attacks on their software supply
In the past several weeks, our analysts were asked their opinions of what they believe will be the most pressing cyber security issues for the upcoming year. I told them that you really can’t be wrong, as the malware used by all levels of hackers – is constantly changing. Our job as cyber security professional is to try our best, based upon what we have seen recently, to identify immediate challenges in our profession.
Are we guessing…… or do we use facts and evidence to make our expectations
Cybersecurity researchers have published the inner workings of a new wiper called Azov Ransomware that's deliberately designed to corrupt data and "inflict impeccable damage" to compromised systems. Azov is the name of ransomware, malware that blocks access to files by encrypting them. It encrypts all files (except files with .ini, .dll, and .exe extensions) and appends the ".azov" extension to their filenames. Also, Azov drops ransom notes (the "RESTORE_FILES.txt" files) in all folders that i
Recently, victims of a recently uncovered form of ransomware are being warned not to pay the ransom demand simply because the ransomware is not able to decrypt files it just destroys them instead. Coded in Python, Cryptonite ransomware first appeared in October 2022 as part of a free-to-download open-source toolkit available to anyone with the skills required to deploy it in attacks against Microsoft Windows systems, with phishing attacks believed to be the most common means of delivery.
An anal
Ransomware attacks keep increasing in volume and impact largely due to organizations' weak security controls. Mid-market companies are targeted as they possess a significant amount of valuable data but lack the level of protective controls and staffing of larger organizations. According to a recent RSM survey, 62% of mid-market companies believe they are at risk of ransomware in the next 12 months.
As ransomware is still the preferred way for actors to monetize their access, there is a need to u
