DDoS attacks in Q3 2020

News overview Q3 was relatively calm from a DDoS perspective. There were no headline innovations, although cybercriminals did continue to master techniques and develop malware already familiar to us from the last reporting period. For example, another DDoS botnet joined in the assault on Docker...

2020 DDoS Extortion Campaign -- A Sequel More Thrilling Than the Original

Costarring Susan McReynolds and Tom Emmons As you might imagine, as the go-to enterprise DDoS mitigation experts, our phones have been "ringing off the hook" as the global extortion DDoS campaign sequel rages on. It's bigger, badder, and features a broader cast of criminal characters than seen...

A Hacker Is Threatening to Leak Patients' Therapy Notes

An extortionist has turned a breach of Finland's Vastaamo mental health services provider into a nightmare for victims...

Ransomware Group Makes Splashy $20K Donation to Charities

The Darkside ransomware group has distinguished itself from its cybercriminal counterparts not by technical innovation, but by slapping a shiny corporate veneer on its attacks. The latest evolution in Darkside’s ransomware-as-a-corporation gimmick is a hefty $20,000 donation that the group made...

Brute force attacks increase due to more open RDP ports

While leaving your back door open while you are working from home may be something you do without giving it a second thought, having unnecessary ports open on your computer is a security risk that is sometimes underestimated. Thats because an open port can be subject to brute force attacks. What...

2020 DDoS Extortion Campaign -- A Sequel More Thrilling Than the Original

As the go-to enterprise distributed denial-of-service DDoS mitigation experts, our phones have been "ringing off the hook" since the release of the global extortion DDoS campaign sequel. This latest installment of the cybersecurity saga is bigger, badder, and features a broader cast of criminal...

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...

Fancy Bear Imposters Are on a Hacking Extortion Spree

Nice looking website you've got there. It'd be a shame if someone DDoS'd it...

DDoS Extortion Examination

In terms of the Distributed Denial of Service DDoS landscape, 2020 was almost boring prior to the beginning of August. The excitement from the record peak Gbps and Mpps seen in early summer had worn off, and we weren't seeing...

Travelex, Other Orgs Face DDoS Threats as Extortion Campaign Rages On

Companies worldwide have continued to receive extortion emails threatening to launch a distributed denial-of-service DDoS attack on their network, unless they pay up – with British foreign-exchange company Travelex reportedly being one recent high-profile threat recipient. Researchers said that...

FIN11 Cybercrime Gang Shifts Tactics to Double-Extortion Ransomware

The FIN11 financial crime gang is shifting its tactics from phishing and credential-theft to ransomware, researchers said. According to FireEye Mandiant researchers, FIN11 is notable for its “sheer volume of activity,” known to run up to five disparate wide-scale email phishing campaigns per week...

FIN11 Hackers Spotted Using New Techniques In Ransomware Attacks

A financially-motivated threat actor known for its malware distribution campaigns has evolved its tactics to focus on ransomware and extortion. According to FireEye's Mandiant threat intelligence team, the collective — known as FIN11 — has engaged in a pattern of cybercrime campaigns at least sin...

FIN11 Hackers Spotted Using New Techniques In Ransomware Attacks

A financially-motivated threat actor known for its malware distribution campaigns has evolved its tactics to focus on ransomware and extortion. According to FireEye's Mandiant threat intelligence team, the collective — known as FIN11 — has engaged in a pattern of cybercrime campaigns at least sin...

Watch Out — Microsoft Warns Android Users About A New Ransomware

Microsoft has warned about a new strain of mobile ransomware that takes advantage of incoming call notifications and Android's Home button to lock the device behind a ransom note. The findings concern a variant of a known Android ransomware family dubbed "MalLocker.B" which has now resurfaced wit...

Watch Out — Microsoft Warns Android Users About A New Ransomware

Microsoft has warned about a new strain of mobile ransomware that takes advantage of incoming call notifications and Android's Home button to lock the device behind a ransom note. The findings concern a variant of a known Android ransomware family dubbed "MalLocker.B" which has now resurfaced wit...

British Hacker Sentenced to 5 Years for Blackmailing U.S. Companies

A UK man who threatened to publicly release stolen confidential information unless the victims agreed to fulfill his digital extortion demands has finally pleaded guilty on Monday at U.S. federal district court in St. Louis, Missouri. Nathan Francis Wyatt , 39, who is a key member of the infamous...

Unprecedented Levels of Ransom DDoS Extortion Attacks

The FBI has released a flash warning that thousands of organizations around the world, and across multiple industries, have been threatened with DDoS attacks unless they pay a bitcoin ransom. This ransom DDoS, or RDoS, threat was covered by Akamai's Security Intelligence Response Team SIRT in a...

A week in security (August 17 – 23)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we looked at the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare cybersecurity, dug into some pandemic stats in terms of how workforces coped with going remote, and served up a crash course on malware detection. Our most recent Lock and Code podcast explored the safety of parenta...

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...

NetWalker Ransomware Rakes in $29M Since March

The NetWalker ransomware has been around for about a year, but it has really made a name for itself in 2020, racking up around $29 million in extortion gains just since March. First detected in August 2019, NetWalker lingered around before surging in use in March through June, according to an...