Ransomware on ESXi: The Mechanization of Virtualized Attacks

In 2024, ransomware attacks targeting VMware ESXi servers reached alarming levels, with the average ransom demand skyrocketing to $5 million. With approximately 8,000 ESXi hosts exposed directly to the internet according to Shodan, the operational and business impact of these attacks is profound...

AI-Driven Ransomware FunkSec Targets 85 Victims Using Double Extortion Tactics

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a nascent artificial intelligence AI assisted ransomware family called FunkSec that sprang forth in late 2024, and has claimed more than 85 victims to date. "The group uses double extortion tactics, combining data theft with encryption to pressure...

New 'Helldown' Ransomware Variant Expands Attacks to VMware and Linux Systems

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a Linux variant of a relatively new ransomware strain called Helldown, suggesting that the threat actors are broadening their attack focus. "Helldown deploys Windows ransomware derived from the LockBit 3.0 code," Sekoia said in a report shared with The...

North Korean IT Workers in Western Firms Now Demanding Ransom for Stolen Data

North Korean information technology IT workers who obtain employment under false identities in Western companies are not only stealing intellectual property, but are also stepping up by demanding ransoms in order to not leak it, marking a new twist to their financially motivated attacks. "In some...

Fake North Korean IT Workers Infiltrate Western Firms, Demand Ransom

North Korean hackers are infiltrating Western companies using fraudulent IT workers to steal sensitive data and extort ransom.…...

Lamborghini Carjackers Lured by $243M Cyberheist

The parents of a 19-year-old Connecticut honors student accused of taking part in a $243 million cryptocurrency heist in August were carjacked a week later -- while out house-hunting in a brand new Lamborghini. Prosecutors say the couple was beaten and briefly kidnapped by six young men who...

Hacktivist Group Twelve Targets Russian Entities with Destructive Cyber Attacks

A hacktivist group known as Twelve has been observed using an arsenal of publicly available tools to conduct destructive cyber attacks against Russian targets. "Rather than demand a ransom for decrypting data, Twelve prefers to encrypt victims' data and then destroy their infrastructure with a...

IT threat evolution in Q2 2024. Non-mobile statistics

The statistics presented here are based on detection verdicts by Kaspersky products and services received from users who consented to providing statistical data. Quarterly figures In Q2 2024: Kaspersky solutions blocked over 664 million attacks from various internet sources. The web antivirus...

Ex-Engineer Charged in Missouri for Failed $750,000 Bitcoin Extortion Attempt

A 57-year-old man from the U.S. state of Missouri has been arrested in connection with a failed data extortion campaign that targeted his former employer. Daniel Rhyne of Kansas City, Missouri, has been charged with one count of extortion in relation to a threat to cause damage to a protected...

New Qilin Ransomware Attack Uses VPN Credentials, Steals Chrome Data

The threat actors behind a recently observed Qilin ransomware attack have stolen credentials stored in Google Chrome browsers on a small set of compromised endpoints. The use of credential harvesting in connection with a ransomware infection marks an unusual twist, and one that could have cascadi...

U.S. DoJ Indicts North Korean Hacker for Ransomware Attacks on Hospitals

The U.S. Department of Justice DoJ on Thursday unsealed an indictment against a North Korean military intelligence operative for allegedly carrying out ransomware attacks against healthcare facilities in the country and funneling the payments to orchestrate additional intrusions into defense,...

Ticketmaster hackers release stolen ticket barcodes for Taylor Swift Eras Tour [updated]

The cybercriminals who claimed responsibility for the Ticketmaster data breach say theyve stolen 440,000 tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. As proof, an entity using the handle Sp1d3rHunters, a merger of Sp1d3r and ShinyHunters who are both aliases associated with the breach, leaked 170k...

Kraken Crypto Exchange Hit by $3 Million Theft Exploiting Zero-Day Flaw

Crypto exchange Kraken revealed that an unnamed security researcher exploited an "extremely critical" zero-day flaw in its platform to steal $3 million in digital assets and refused to return them. Details of the incident were shared by Kraken's Chief Security Officer, Nick Percoco, on X formerly...

Alleged Boss of ‘Scattered Spider’ Hacking Group Arrested

A 22-year-old man from the United Kingdom arrested this week in Spain is allegedly the ringleader of Scattered Spider, a cybercrime group suspected of hacking into Twilio, LastPass, DoorDash, Mailchimp, and nearly 130 other organizations over the past two years. The Spanish daily Murcia Today...

Rebranded Knight Ransomware Targeting Healthcare and Businesses Worldwide

An analysis of a nascent ransomware strain called RansomHub has revealed it to be an updated and rebranded version of Knight ransomware, itself an evolution of another ransomware known as Cyclops. Knight aka Cyclops 2.0 ransomware first arrived in May 2023, employing double extortion tactics to...

Man Who Mass-Extorted Psychotherapy Patients Gets Six Years

A 26-year-old Finnish man was sentenced to more than six years in prison today after being convicted of hacking into an online psychotherapy clinic, leaking tens of thousands of patient therapy records, and attempting to extort the clinic and patients. On October 21, 2020, the Vastaamo...

A week in security (April 8 – April 14)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: How to change your Social Security Number Apple warns people of mercenary attacks via threat notification system How to check if your data was exposed in the AT&T breach Microsoft’s April 2024 Patch Tuesday includes two actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities H...

Hackers Claim Accessing 740GB of Data from Viber Messaging App

By Waqas Hackers claim to have breached Viber, stealing 740GB of data, including source code, and are now demanding ransom of 8 Bitcoin. This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Hackers Claim Accessing 740GB of Data from Viber Messaging App...

Ransomware review: March 2024

This article is based on research by Marcelo Rivero, Malwarebytes ransomware specialist, who monitors information published by ransomware gangs on their Dark Web sites. In this report, "known attacks" are those where the victim did not pay a ransom. This provides the best overall picture of...

Exit Scam: BlackCat Ransomware Group Vanishes After $22 Million Payout

The threat actors behind the BlackCat ransomware have shut down their darknet website and likely pulled an exit scam after uploading a bogus law enforcement seizure banner. "ALPHV/BlackCat did not get seized. They are exit scamming their affiliates," security researcher Fabian Wosar said. "It is...