Incidents involving malware or ransomware. In some cases, incidents called “ransomware” do not involve any locking but merely hack, exfiltrate, and attempt to extort.
HHS generally does not rush to issue any notice about a cyberattack, but today, they issued a quick one about Change Healthcare: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is aware that a cyber incident was identified in Optum Insight’s Change Healthcare’s technology systems on February 21. HHS is working closely with Optum Insight […]
Law enforcement has been providing new information each day about the disruption to LockBit’s operations. In today’s news, there’s a reward offered for information on the perpetrators and affiliates. The reward offer was published by the U.S. Department of State: The Department of State is announcing reward offers totaling up to $15 million for information […]
The biggest cybercrime news of the week may be the takedown of LockBit3.0, but U.S. law enforcement also made news last week by announcing rewards for information leading to the identification or location of leaders of AlphV (BlackCat) or those who participate in it. Here is the press release from the U.S. Department of State: […]
When law enforcement takes down what has been described as the biggest and longest-running ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) criminal operation, it’s big news. Yesterday, LockBit3.0’s site was replaced with a seizure notice that indicated that LockBit and its infrastructure were now under law enforcement control. In a press release this morning, the National Crime Agency (NCA) provided […]
The Record reports: The U.S. and partners around the world ousted Russian government hackers from a network of more than 1,000 home and small business routers, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Thursday. The law enforcement action, dubbed Operation Dying Ember, has not been previously announced. “Working with U.S. and worldwide law enforcement partners we […]
The Register reports: Cybercriminals are targeting iOS users with malware that steals Face ID scans to break into and pilfer money from bank accounts – thought to be a world first. A Chinese-speaking cybercrime group, dubbed GoldFactory by Group-IB’s researchers, started distributing trojanized smartphone apps in June 2023, however, the latest GoldPickaxe version has been […]
More than 57,000 people enrolled in Bank of America deferred compensation plans are being notified of a data breach that occurred in early November 2023. The incident involved their Atlanta-based service provider, Infosys McCamish Systems LLC (“IMS”). Bank of America’s system was not affected or compromised. IMS is the U.S. subsidiary of Infosys BPM, an […]
As 2023 drew to a close, a report by Emsisoft made the bold recommendation to impose a flat-out ban on ransom payments in the event of cyberattacks. Their suggestion has spawned a good deal of discussion, including a new report by incident response firm Coveware, who disagrees strongly with the recommendation. The following is just […]
From the university’s press release about their research into factors related to whether ransomware victims decide to pay ransom or not — and how much they pay if they do decide to pay: The UT investigated the decision-making process of victims who had to pay ransoms during ransomware attacks. UT researcher Tom Meurs and his […]
Ransomware criminals lie to us. Can we lie to them?
Some ransomware gangs demand millions of dollars in ransom or even tens of millions of dollars. Even smaller businesses, non-profit organizations, and public school districts have increasingly become victims of cyberattacks because they are easy targets with poor defenses against attackers. Do you want your system unlocked? Do you want your data back or deleted […]