Tag: Cybersecurity
Europol Urges Police to Prepare for Quantum Computing – October 26th
Europol released a statement directed to European law enforcement agencies to prepare for the impact quantum computing will have on the cybersecurity ecosystem. This warning is based on Europol's latest report, "The Second Quantum Revolution: The Impact of Quantum Computing and Quantum Technologies on Law Enforcement" which dives into the threats and opportunities of quantum computing to threat actors.
Three-quarters of SMBs hit by serious cyber-attacks
Roughly three-quarters of small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have experienced a cyber-attack, a breach, or both in the last year. According to non-profit organization the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC)’s third annual ITRC Business Impact Report, 73 percent of owners or leaders of SMB’s reported being attacked or breached in the past 12 months, following a slight dip in the previous year.
UK Purchase Scams Surge up to £580M – October 25th
UK Finance has reported a significant increase in authorized push payment (APP) fraud in the first half of 2023. APP fraud refers to threat actors practicing identity fraud to trick victims into sending money to bank accounts under their control.
North Korea funding weapons program with cybercrime
Last week, the US seized 17 website domains alleged to have been used to defraud US and foreign businesses. These seizures come hard on the heels of previously sealed October 2022 and January 2023 court-authorized seizures of approximately $1.5 million of the revenue that the same group of IT workers collected from unwitting victims. According to the US Justice Department, The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea has installed bogus contractors to steal from US companies in order to pay for weapons development.
BHI Energy comes clean about devastating data breach – October 24th
US energy firm BHI Energy has shared details about an Akira ransomware gang attack that breached its network in May this year. The gang used a third-party contractor's account to reach BHI's internal network through a VPN connection. In the weeks that followed the breach, 767K files, containing 690 GB of data were stolen. These included BHI's Windows Active Directory database.
Plastic surgeons and patients targeted in extortion rackets
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warns that cybercriminals and online blackmailers are targeting plastic surgeons to harvest electronically protected health information (ePHI) on their patients. Personal ePHI includes sensitive information and photographs, enabling the cybercriminals to extort money from the patients themselves as well as from plastic surgery practices, something that could prove lucrative to blackmailers targeting wealthy celebrities who are in the public eye.
BlackCat turns to ‘Munchkin’ to advance hacker operations – October 23rd
The BlackCat ransomware group has employed the use of a new tool, called Munchkin, making the Ransomware-as-a-Service (Raas) operation more attractive to potential affiliates. This is because Munchkin allows for the use of remote systems to deploy encryptors on network devices. After violating a device's security, the threat actors are able to install something called a VirtualBox, which enhances their ability to propagate a malicious payload across victim networks.
Law Enforcement takes down RagnarLocker base – October 20th
Law enforcement officials are working around the clock to take down ransomware gangs by targeting their funding sources and online infrastructure. As part of these efforts, they have seized the RagnarLocker base, hoping this will disrupt one of the internet's most malicious ransomware groups. The collective law enforcement effort is made up of authorities from Europe, the US, and Japan.
Hamas hijacks dead hostages’ smartphones for cyber-strikes
Terrorist group Hamas, which was responsible for the recent atrocities committed in Israel, is reported to be using the smartphones of dead and captured Israeli hostages as entry points to monitor Israeli citizens in preparation for forthcoming cyber-strikes on Israel.
Lloyd’s warns of a potential $3.5 trillion cyber-strike
According to Lloyds, a single well-orchestrated cyber strike breaching a financial services payments system could lead to losses of $1.1 trillion in the US alone, with global losses amounting to $3.5 trillion over a five-year period. China would face losses of around $470 billion and Japan $200 billion.
Stealthy malware with ‘spy’ abilities makes headlines – October 19th
A stealthy malware known as SpyNote has made headlines because of its ability to steal data, record calls and access the cameras of devices it has infected. The malware disguises itself as a phone operating system update, fooling targeted victims into allowing it access privileges
West’s intelligence services join forces with Big Tech
In what the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is billing as “their first-ever joint public appearance”, the heads of the intelligence services of five Western governments, known as the “Five Eyes” are now meeting in Palo Alto, California, the heart of Silicon Valley.