A study by risk solutions provider, Kroll, identified a growing trend in the use of Qakbot trojan, or Qbot, to launch email thread hijacking campaigns and to deploy ransomware attacks. According to the findings in conjunction with analysts from the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, or NCFTA, cybercriminals seek to steal financial data from multiple industries like media, education, and academia. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has helped the attacks target the healthcare sector as well. The trojan is reportedly being used as a “point of entry” by the operators behind the ProLock ransomware gang. The report suggests that victims are …
Educational services across the globe have been witnessing a surge in ransomware attacks in 2020. According to Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigation Report, ransomware attacks account for approximately 80% of all cyberattacks suffered. The data suggests 92% of these incidents were motivated by financial reasons, while only 3% aimed to perform espionage activities on businesses operating within education. A sharp increase in ransomware attacks since 2019 Ransomware attacks are growing at an alarming rate. Currently accounting for an overwhelming majority of all cyberattacks, ransomware was just 48% of the whole during 2019. Phishing is partially to blame here — ransomware …
The FDA-approved Coronavirus ventilator manufacturer Boyce Technologies has been targeted by ransomware launched by the DoppelPaymer gang, who are threatening to leak data from the company. Cointelegraph has viewed the DoppelPaymer blog, where the gang lists example files of the data stolen during the attack, including sales and purchase orders, assignment forms, among others. The cybercriminals have threatened that more information will be disclosed next week through the site if an undisclosed crypto ransom is not paid by the firm. Boyce Technologies is well-known for its work in designing and manufacturing FDA-approved low-cost ventilators in just 30 days during the …
A cybersecurity expert explained why he is convinced that the promises made by ransomware groups amid the pandemic are irrelevant. Brett Callow — threat analyst at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft — told Cointelegraph that multiple ransomware groups recently made promises to halt their activity against medical organizations amid the coronavirus pandemic. Still, he believes that those promises are irrelevant: “The claims of a ceasefire made by ransomware groups are irrelevant [and] should be completely disregarded. Would you leave your front door unlocked simply because the local burglars had pinky-promised not to rob you? Probably not. The story of the frog and …
2019 demonstrated that cyber-attacks are getting more numerous in the cryptocurrency industry, while hardware remains vulnerable and high-profile data leaks are becoming more common. Even worse, the trend is a continuing one. Way back in June 2018, Kaspersky Lab security experts reported an increase in the amount of malware targeting the cryptocurrency market. They noted a trend toward the spread of two types of malware: for hacking cryptocurrency wallets and for malicious Bitcoin (BTC) mining. As cybercrimes using digital money have begun to affect more countries and involve more advanced technologies, entire states and government organizations have come to grips …