Chinmay Rautmare

Senior Correspondent

Rautmare is senior correspondent on Information Security Media Group's Global News Desk. He previously worked with Reuters News, as a correspondent for the North America Headline News operations and reported on companies in the technology, media and telecom sectors. Before Reuters he put in a stint in broadcast journalism with a business channel, where he helped produced multimedia content and daily market shows. Rautmare is a keen follower of geo-political news and defense technology in his free time.

Congress Questions NASA on Cybersecurity Efforts

Chinmay Rautmare • September 21, 2020

Foreign and domestic hacking activity targeting NASA continues to grow at a time when many staffers are working at home, space agency officials testified at a Friday Congressional hearing where they were questioned about risk mitigation efforts.

Attacks Using Cerberus Banking Trojan Surge

Chinmay Rautmare • September 18, 2020

The posting on Russian underground forums of source code for the Android mobile banking Trojan Cerberus has led to an increase in attacks as well as updates to the malware, the security firm Kaspersky reports.

Analysis: Online Attacks Hit Education Sector Worldwide

Chinmay Rautmare • September 18, 2020

Check Point Research analysts have observed a significant rise in online attacks against the educational sector worldwide since July. DDoS attacks have surged in the U.S., while European institutions have been hit by ransomware.

Hackers Divert VA Payments Intended for Healthcare Providers

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee , Chinmay Rautmare • September 15, 2020

A security incident in which hackers used social engineering techniques to divert Department of Veterans Affairs payments intended for healthcare providers compromised the personal information of 46,000 U.S. veterans.

IRS Seeks Fresh Ways to Trace Cryptocurrency Transactions

Chinmay Rautmare • September 14, 2020

The IRS is offering grants of up to $625,000 to tech companies that devise ways to help the tax agency trace cryptocurrency transactions as part of its investigations into money laundering and other types of cybercrimes.

Operators Behind ProLocker Ransomware Seek 'Big Game'

Chinmay Rautmare • September 11, 2020

Since March, the operators behind ProLocker ransomware have focused on targeting large enterprise networks with ransomware demands sometimes exceeding $1 million, the security firm Group-IB reports. The gang has recently started to use the Qbot banking Trojan.

Zeppelin Ransomware Floats Back Into View

Chinmay Rautmare • September 11, 2020

After a six-month hiatus, the Zeppelin ransomware variant returned in late August, according to Juniper Threats Labs. The malware now uses an updated Trojan downloader to better hide its activities from security tools.

Phishing Campaign Uses Homepage Overlay to Trick Victims

Chinmay Rautmare • September 9, 2020

A recently uncovered phishing campaign designed to harvest credentials used companies' official webpages as an overlay to hide malicious domains, according to security firm Cofense.

BEC Scam Losses Surge as the Number of Attacks Diminish

Chinmay Rautmare • September 7, 2020

The average amount stolen in a business email compromise scam increased 48% during the second quarter of 2020, but the number of attacks decreased during that period, the Anti-Phishing Working Group reports.

Senators Seek Sanctions for Election Interference

Chinmay Rautmare • September 4, 2020

A group of Democratic senators, including Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York, is urging the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Russia and other "governmental actors" that are waging efforts to interfere with the November election interference.

Another Twitter Hack: This Time, India's Modi Targeted

Chinmay Rautmare • September 3, 2020

Twitter is investigating the hacking of an account associated with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an apparent cryptocurrency scam, according to news reports. The incident appears similar to a July Twitter hack that hit well-known targets in the U.S. and Europe.

AlphaBay Moderator Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison

Chinmay Rautmare • September 3, 2020

The former moderator of the now-defunct AlphaBay darknet marketplace has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal racketeering charge, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Fraudsters Use Telegram App to Steal Payment Card Data

Chinmay Rautmare • September 2, 2020

Some fraudsters are now using the encrypted instant messaging app Telegram as a fast and easy way to steal payment card data from ecommerce sites, according to an analysis from Malwarebytes.

'UltraRank' Gang Sells Card Data It Steals

Scott Ferguson , Chinmay Rautmare • September 1, 2020

A cybercriminal gang dubbed "UltraRank" that has planted malicious JavaScript code in hundreds of e-commerce websites around the world over the last five years to steal payment card data also takes the unusual step of selling the data on its own, the security firm Group-IB reports.

Alleged BEC Scammer Extradited From Ghana

Chinmay Rautmare • August 28, 2020

A Ghana resident has been extradited to the U.S. to face charges of targeting a Memphis-based real estate company in a sophisticated BEC scam and participating in other criminal schemes, according to the Justice Department.