The Rapid Resurgence of DDoS Extortion (That Didn't Take Long)

Just when we thought DDoS extortion was fading into the rearview mirror, it's time to circle up the trucks again gas tanks full. Starting last week and rapidly accelerating, we began seeing in our data and hearing firsthand from organizations about a new wave of extortion activity -- new Bitcoin...

The Rapid Resurgence of DDoS Extortion (That Didn't Take Long)

Just when we thought DDoS extortion was fading into the rearview mirror, it's time to circle up the trucks again gas tanks full...

Cyberweek 2020 Attracted Both Online Shoppers and DDoS Attackers

2020 has shown both record-busting bps and pps attacks and the most prolific DDoS extortion campaign recorded by Akamai...

Don't Let DDoS Extortionists Deliver a KO Punch

Since mid-August, a variety of threat actors and copycats alike have been targeting organizations across all industries globally, threatening impending DDoS attacks unless Bitcoin is paid out. It's apparent, as the campaign rages on, that some businesses must be paying the extortion demands, --...

News Wrap: Barnes & Noble Hack, DDoS Extortion Threats and More

The Threatpost editors break down the top security stories of the week ended Oct. 16, including: Patch Tuesday insanity, with Microsoft and Adobe releasing fixes for severe vulnerabilities – including a critical, potentially wormable remote code execution bug known as the “Ping of Death” Barnes a...

Ransom Demands Return: New DDoS Extortion Threats From Old Actors Targeting Finance and Retail

Update 08/24/2020 As mentioned below, the Akamai SIRT has been tracking attacks from the so-called Armada Collective and Fancy Bear actors, who are sending ransom letters to various industry verticals such as finance, travel, and e-commerce. In addition to the...

A week in security (September 18 – September 24)

Last week, we kept you updated on our blog about the infected versions of CCleaner that were offered as downloads on the official servers. We also warned you against a fake IRS notice that delivers a customized spying tool, some of the threats currently facing gamers, and a Netflix scam that has...

Low Risk Threat: DDoS Extortion Letters

Summary Adversaries calling themselves the Lizard Squad have been sending businesses extortion letters, demanding payment in bitcoin to prevent a Distributed Denial of Service DDoS or other attack against their applications. These letters have been sent to businesses across the globe and across...

Empty DDoS Threats Still Net Attackers $100,000

With some members of the so-called Armada Collective in jail, another actor has decided to co-opt their technique of sending threatening DDoS extortion messages to businesses worldwide. Only difference is, this group isn’t following through with its threat, and it’s still collecting serious money...

FBI Warns of Increase in DDoS Extortion Scams

Online scammers constantly are looking for new ways to reach into the pockets of potential victims, and the FBI says it is seeing an increase in the number of companies being targeted by scammers threatening to launch DDoS attacks if they don’t pay a ransom. The scam is a variation on a theme, th...