Cerber targeting organizations with publicly available exploits

THREAT LEVEL: Red. For a detailed advisory, download the pdf file here. Cerber, ransomware that mysteriously vanished in 2019, has reappeared with a new encryption. The new cerber includes fresh source code and makes use of the new library Crypto+++, whereas the previous form made use of Windows...

‘Double-Extortion’ Ransomware Damage Skyrockets 935%

The ransomware business is booming, and feeble corporate security and a flourishing ransomware-as-a-service RaaS affiliate market are to blame, researchers say. Access to compromised networks is cheap, thanks to a rise in the number of initial-access brokers and RaaS tools can turn everyday petty...

Arrest in ‘Ransom Your Employer’ Email Scheme

In August, KrebsOnSecurity warned that scammers were contacting people and asking them to unleash ransomware inside their employers network, in exchange for a percentage of any ransom amount paid by the victim company. This week, authorities in Nigeria arrested a suspect in connection with the...

Are cybercriminals turning away from the US and targeting Europe instead?

Significant cyberattacks against critical targets in Europe have doubled in the past year, according to EU figures obtained by CNN. And with the announced pressure from the US against major ransomware gangs we can expect these figures to go up even more. Its also clear from recent attacks that th...

Protect yourself from BlackMatter ransomware: Advice issued

Despite promises made by the BlackMatter ransomware gang about which organizations and business types they would avoid, multiple US critical infrastructure entities have been targeted. Now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, in conjunction with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security...

A week in security (Oct 11 – Oct 17)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs Google warns some users that FancyBear’s been prowling around Inside Apple: How macOS attacks are evolving The joy of phishing your employees ExpressVPN made a choice, and so did I: Lock and Code S02E19 Update now! Apple patches another privilege escalation bug in i...

DDoS attacks on VoIP and the urgent need for DDoS protection

VoIP companies have recently been the target of a series of ransom Distributed Denial of Service DDoS attacks around the globe with UK-based VoIP providers including VoIP Unlimited, and Quebec-based company VoIP.ms being hit by aggressive and sustained attacks destabilizing their infrastructure a...

Ransom Disclosure Act would mandate ransomware payment reporting

In an effort to better understand and clamp down on the ransomware economy and its related use of cryptocurrencies, US Senator and past presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren and US House Representative Deborah Ross introduced a new bill last week that would require companies and organizations to...

Ransomware in the CIS

Introduction These days, when speaking of cyberthreats, most people have in mind ransomware, specifically cryptomalware. In 2020–2021, with the outbreak of the pandemic and the emergence of several major cybercriminal groups Maze, REvil, Conti, DarkSide, Avaddon, an entire criminal ecosystem took...

Police take a piece out of a ransomware gang, but won’t say which one

One of the worlds ransomware groups appears to be a couple of members short today—and about two million dollars less rich—but nobody is sure which one. Police are staying tight-lipped about whos short-handed following the arrest of two individuals in Kyiv, Ukraine. The arrests are part of a joint...

This Week in Security News – October 1, 2021

Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, learn about Zloader, a notable recent ZBOT variant. Also, read on a recently introduced bill that would mandate ransom payment reporting...

This Week in Security News – October 1, 2021

Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, learn about Zloader, a notable recent ZBOT variant. Also, read on a recently introduced bill that would mandate ransom payment reporting...

REvil Affiliates Confirm Getting Screwed Out of Payments

A day after news broke about REvil having screwed their own affiliates out of ransomware payments – by using double chats and a backdoor that let REvil operators hijack ransom payments – those affiliates took to the top Russian-language hacking forum to renew their demands for REvil to fork over...

Are you a victim of the Conti Ransomware?

THREAT LEVEL: Red. For a detailed advisory, download the pdf file here. Conti Ransomware targets enterprises who have not patched their systems by exploiting old vulnerabilities. Conti Ransomware steals sensitive information from businesses and demands a ransom in exchange. CISA has issued a...

How REvil May Have Ripped Off Its Own Affiliates

There’s no honor amongst thieves, but this is beyond rude: Malware specialists have found evidence of how REvil’s leadership may have screwed their own affiliates out of their cut of ransomware payouts. Malware specialists researching newly available samples from REvil – aka Sodinokibi, a...

BlackMatter Strikes Iowa Farmers Cooperative, Demands $5.9M Ransom

A ransomware group believed to be the latest incarnation of the infamous DarkSide cybergang is being blamed for taking out a farmers’ cooperative online network, with extortionists demanding $5.9 million in ransom. The group BlackMatter is credited for the attack on an Iowa collective of farmers...

A guide to combatting human-operated ransomware: Part 1

This blog is part one of a two-part series focused on how Microsoft DART helps customers with human-operated ransomware. For more guidance on human-operated ransomware and how to defend against these extortion-based attacks, refer to our human-operated ransomware docs page. Microsoft’s Detection...

Ragnar Locker Gang Warns Victims Not to Call the FBI

All that the FBI/ransomware negotiators/investigators do is muck things up, so we’re going to publish your stuff if you call for help, the Ragnar Locker ransomware gang announced on its darknet data-leak site. In an announcement posted this week and seen by Bleeping Computer, the ransomware...

Cheap and nasty: How for $100 low-skilled ransom DDoS extortionists can cripple your business

Distributed Denial of Service DDoS attacks capable of crippling network resources and websites can be rented online for as little as $5 an hour. With an average financial impact of $100k for just one hour of downtime, that’s a serious return on cybercriminal investment. And that’s just for the...

Ransom DDoS: What you need to know now

According to the 2021 DDoS Threat Landscape Report, Ransom DDoS RDoS threats are on the rise. Imperva researchers have been monitoring threats against several of our customers where extortionists have demanded payment in BitCoin to prevent DDoS attacks. The attack patterns this year are very...