Global computing conglomerate Microsoft is notifying hospitals that are vulnerable to ransomware attacks to help prevent healthcare institutions from becoming overwhelmed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm also published recommendations to hospitals for securing their systems and preventing ransomware attacks on April 1. Through the company’s network of threat intelligence analysts, Microsoft states that it “identified several dozens of hospitals” with vulnerable virtual private networks and other public-facing gateway applications in their systems: “During this time of crisis, as organizations have moved to a remote workforce, ransomware operators have found a practical target: network devices like gateway and virtual private …

U.S-based Peer-to-Peer VPN Provider Orchid will start offering a private network for free to journalists across the globe, according to an announcement made on March 20. According to Orchid, journalists who have press credentials and proof of status, regardless of their geographical location, can send an email to the company so they can access the network. VPN free as a measure against press censorship Speaking with Cointelegraph, Dr. Steven Waterhouse, CEO and co-founder of Orchid Labs, made some comments regarding the motivations that led the VPN provider to offer such a feature: "In the wake of crises, freedom of the …

After a product launch and simultaneous Coinbase Pro token listing, Orchid Labs’ OXT token found itself down more than 20% in value by Dec. 18, as Cointelegraph detailed in a brief. Responding to the activity, Orchid’s CEO said the business has more of a long-term focus. “It’s obviously my responsibility as a CEO to be concerned about all aspects of the company, and given that this is now being traded, that’s one of the variables that we look at,” Orchid CEO Steven Waterhouse told Cointelegraph in a Dec. 19 interview, adding: “We are much more interested in the long-term performance …

Cryptostorm, the VPN (virtual private network) service providers, revealed to Cointelegraph that they’ve been using Bitcoin and Namecoin to power their portal to the Darknet for months, announcing native access to Tor, I2P and .bit websites. The company, also known as “Cstorm,” has been providing VPN services since 2006. In an interview with CT, they said they have been looking into blockchain technologies since 2012, around the time they began accepting Bitcoin as payment. During our conversation, they officially announced their native integration of Namecoin’s .bit domains into their services, alongside their tunnels to .onion and .i2p websites, which allows …