Browser lockers: extortion disguised as a fine

Browser lockers aka browlocks are a class of online threats that prevent the victim from using the browser and demand a ransom. A locker is a fake page that dupes the user, under a fictitious pretext loss of data, legal liability, etc., into making a call or a money transfer, or giving out paymen...

2021: Volumetric DDoS Attacks Rising Fast

In our 2020 DDoS retrospective, we highlighted the twists and turns of a very, very active threat landscape. As a quick refresher, we mitigated some of the largest attacks ever seen 1.44 Tbps and 809 Mpps; saw more attacks on customers across more diverse industries than ever before; and observed...

Software renewal scammers unmasked

Weve been tracking a fraudulent scheme involving renewal notifications for several months now. It came to our attention because the Malwarebytes brand as well as other popular names were being used to send fake invoices via email. The concept is simple but effective. You receive an invoice for a...

Why Banks Are Still A Top Target For DDoS Attacks

The financial services sector is still a prime target for cyber criminals and it has been widely reported that in 2020 financial institutions came under attack more than ever before. According to Boston Consulting Group research, financial service firms are up to 300 times more likely to experien...

Russian hacker pleads guilty to planting malware in Tesla Gigafactory

By Waqas The hacker Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov traveled from Russia to the US in an attempt to recruit Tesla employees to exfiltrate data and extort the company. This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Russian hacker pleads guilty to planting malware in Tesla Gigafactory...

FBI warns of increase in PYSA ransomware attacks targeting education

On March 16, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI issued a "Flash" alert on PYSA ransomware after an uptick on attacks this month against institutions in the education sector, particularly higher ed, K-12, and seminaries. According to the alert PDF, the United Kingdom and 12 states in the US...

PYSA Ransomware Pillages Education Sector, Feds Warn

The FBI has issued a warning about an uptick in cyberattacks on the education sector that are delivering the PYSA ransomware. In a “Flash” alert to the cybersecurity community issued on Tuesday, the Feds said that PYSA has been seen in attacks on schools in 12 U.S. states and in the United Kingdo...

Don’t Be a Victim of Cyber Extortion

There’s no doubt that cybercrime is on the rise, and bad actors are constantly on the lookout for vulnerabilities. In the first half of 2020 data breaches exposed over 36 billion records. Attacks are becoming more wide-spread and more prolific. Malicious hackers are exploiting zero-day...

Protecting Your Data from Cyber Extortion: Lessons from the Latest Mega-hack

At the end of last year, enterprise firewall company Accellion was the victim of a two-phase SQL injection attack that resulted in significant sensitive data breaches over the last number of months. This attack is important for several reasons. It underscores the rise in frequency of incidents...

The Accellion Breach Keeps Getting Worse—and More Expensive

What started as a few vulnerabilities in firewall equipment has snowballed into a global extortion spree...

Extortion Gang Breaches Cybersecurity Firm Qualys Using Accellion Exploit

Enterprise cloud security firm Qualys has become the latest victim to join a long list of entities to have suffered a data breach after zero-day vulnerabilities in its Accellion File Transfer Appliance FTA server were exploited to steal sensitive business documents. As proof of access to the data...

RTM Cybergang Adds New Quoter Ransomware to Crime Spree

The Russian-speaking group behind the infamous RTM banking trojan is now packing a trifecta of threats as it turns up the heat – part of a massive new money-grab campaign. Beyond the banking malware it is known for, attackers have enlisted a recently-discovered ransomware family called Quoter as...

Researchers Unearth Links Between SunCrypt and QNAPCrypt Ransomware

SunCrypt, a ransomware strain that went on to infect several targets last year, may be an updated version of the QNAPCrypt ransomware, which targeted Linux-based file storage systems, according to new research. "While the two ransomware families are operated by distinct different threat actors on...

Researchers Unearth Links Between SunCrypt and QNAPCrypt Ransomware

SunCrypt, a ransomware strain that went on to infect several targets last year, may be an updated version of the QNAPCrypt ransomware, which targeted Linux-based file storage systems, according to new research. "While the two ransomware families are operated by distinct different threat actors on...

CISA Releases Joint Cybersecurity Advisory on Exploitation of Accellion File Transfer Appliance

The cybersecurity authorities of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States have released Joint Cybersecurity Advisory AA21-055A: Exploitation of Accellion File Transfer Appliance. Cyber actors worldwide have exploited vulnerabilities in Accellion File Transfer...

Hackers Exploit Accellion Zero-Days in Recent Data Theft and Extortion Attacks

Cybersecurity researchers on Monday tied a string of attacks targeting Accellion File Transfer Appliance FTA servers over the past two months to data theft and extortion campaign orchestrated by a cybercrime group called UNC2546. The attacks, which began in mid-December 2020, involved exploiting...

Hackers Exploit Accellion Zero-Days in Recent Data Theft and Extortion Attacks

Cybersecurity researchers on Monday tied a string of attacks targeting Accellion File Transfer Appliance FTA servers over the past two months to data theft and extortion campaign orchestrated by a cybercrime group called UNC2546. The attacks, which began in mid-December 2020, involved exploiting...

Cyber Criminals Exploit Accellion FTA for Data Theft and Extortion

Starting in mid-December 2020, malicious actors that Mandiant tracks as UNC2546 exploited multiple zero-day vulnerabilities in Accellion’s legacy File Transfer Appliance FTA to install a newly discovered web shell named DEWMODE. The motivation of UNC2546 was not immediately apparent, but starting...

US charges 3 North Korean hackers for extorting $1.3+ billion

By Deeba Ahmed One of the hackers was also charged in 2018 for playing a role in the Sony Pictures hacking and WannaCry ransomware attacks. This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: US charges 3 North Korean hackers for extorting $1.3+ billion...

Extortion, precision malware, and ruthless scams. Read the State of Malware 2021 report

Last year, threat actors took advantage of the COVID-19 public health crisis in a way previously considered unimaginable, not only preying on uncertainty and fear during the initial months of the global pandemic, but retooling attack methods, reneging on promises, strengthening malware, and...