Since Emotet malware returned last month, it's been dropping the Cobalt Strike penetration-testing tool directly onto infected endpoints shortly after infection, researchers say. The move could be a bid to more rapidly identify high-value systems for targeting with ransomware, some experts warn.
A botnet operation called Glupteba has been disrupted by Google's Threat Analysis Group. The botnet targeted more than 1 million Microsoft Windows users in the U.S, India, Brazil and Southeast Asia. Also, Google has filed a lawsuit against two Russians alleged to be the botnet's operators.
Canadian police have arrested Matthew Philbert on suspicion of being tied to multiple ransomware and malware attacks that amassed domestic victims. Separately, a U.S. indictment charges Philbert with perpetrating an attack against the state of Alaska that breached personal and medical information.
It's no surprise that as some ransomware-wielding criminals have been hitting healthcare, pipelines and other sectors that provide critical services, governments have been recasting the risk posed by ransomware not just as a business threat but as an urgent national security concern.
Good news on the breach prevention and incident response front: More businesses are getting more mature practices in place, although as attackers continue to improve their efforts, so too must defenders, says incident response expert Rocco Grillo of consultancy Alvarez & Marsal.
The FBI warns that the "Cuba" ransomware-wielding attackers have extorted $43.9 million in ransom payments from victims after compromising at least 49 organizations across five critical infrastructure sectors - financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing and IT - since early November.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has issued new security directives for higher-risk freight railroads, passenger rail, and rail transit that it says will strengthen cybersecurity across the transportation sector in response to growing threats to critical infrastructure.
Many ransomware-wielding attackers continue to rely on initial access brokers to easily gain deep access to victims' systems, allowing them to steal data and attempt to pressure victims into paying via data leak sites. Researchers say that the number of victims being listed on such sites has surged.
In the latest weekly update, four editors at Information Security Media Group discuss important cybersecurity issues, including how the FBI has seized bitcoins from an alleged REvil ransomware affiliate, how to mitigate risks from BIN attacks and the latest COVID-19 trends globally.
The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report features an analysis of best practices for negotiating a ransom payment. Also featured: Busting Zero Trust myths and the dangers of mythologizing defenders.
The FBI has seized 39.9 bitcoins worth $2.3 million from an alleged affiliate of the notorious REvil - aka Sodinokibi - ransomware group. A forfeiture notice filed by the government accuses Russian national Aleksandr Sikerin of having amassed the cryptocurrency via victims' ransom payments.
The saying "Penny-wise, pound-foolish" is relevant when we talk to those friendly, knowledgeable finance people about ongoing employee screening due to the dreaded insider threat and the costs associated with it - which leads to us pulling out our hair in utter frustration. This rant is about that.
Japanese multinational conglomerate Panasonic has disclosed a security breach that it says involved unnamed threat actors accessing servers on its network. The company says it detected the breach on Nov. 11. It was determined that some data on a file server had been accessed during the intrusion.
Following the holiday recess, U.S. lawmakers are picking up several legislative priorities starting Monday, including progress on the annual defense spending bill, which contains amendments that would require incident reporting for critical infrastructure providers, among other measures.
Michael Lines is working with Information Security Media Group to promote awareness of the need for cyber risk management, and as a part of that initiative, the CyberEdBoard will post draft chapters from his upcoming book, "Heuristic Risk Management: Be Aware, Get Prepared, Defend Yourself."
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