Tag: Ransomware
Millions of individuals’ DNA selling for a dollar a piece
At least seven million customers of San Francisco-based DNA company, 23andMe, are now seeing their confidential and highly personal genetic data up for sale on the internet. The hackers are also offering the millions of victims’ personal email addresses for good measure and to best assist potential blackmailers and fraudsters.
Upbit announces 159k hack attempts in Q1 – October 9th
Crypto exchange server Upbit has announced it was targeted by hackers 159,000 times during the first quarter of this year. This is more than double the number of hacker attacks it experienced in the same period last year. The figures were released by Dunamu, the company that operates Upbit.
SiegedSec threat actors breach NATO – October 6th
Cybersecurity firm, CloudSEK is looking deeper into the leaked data from NATO, an attack claimed by the SiegedSec threat actors. SiegedSec threat actors, who announced this attack on a Telegram group, claim to not be a state-sponsored group. Instead, their attacks are based on 'hacktivism' or 'just for fun'. This attack on NATO has reportedly compromised 845MB of sensitive information from the organization, impacting 31 nations. NATO is now investigating the SiegedSec claims and is working together with firms to strengthen their cybersecurity efforts so this kind of attack will not be replicated.
Scattered Spider suspected to be behind Clorox Co breach – October 5th
The hacker group behind the recent breaches of major casino companies, called Scattered Spider, is suspected to be behind a recent attack against Clorox Co in Malaysia. This breach has led to a nationwide shortage of cleaning products and displays the same social-engineering tactics of Scattered Spider.
Google to adapt email sender guidelines for heightened security – October 4th
In response to the increasingly hostile cyber environment, Google will tighten bulk email sending regulations next year. Reports say that the server plans to send new email sender guidelines in February, which will require senders of bulk email to authenticate their emails and adhere to stricter spam regulations.
Budworm Group Targets Middle Eastern Telco Company – September 29th
Chinese hacker group Budworm has been using cyber-espionage malware to target a telecommunications company in the Middle East and an Asian government organization. Reports say attacks have been orchestrated through a new variant of the group's SysUpdate backdoor malware, and that telecommunication companies have become a common target for hacking groups.
60,000 emails seized in US State Department breach – September 28th
Travel itineraries and diplomatic deliberations were among the data within seized emails in a recent hacker breach of the US State Department systems. As many as 60,000 emails were compromised in the attack. Allegedly, this attack had been done by threat actors linked with the Chinese government and reports say the incident is likely to raise concerns on Capitol Hill concerning the ramped-up efforts by Chinese hackers.
HTX falls victim to crypto thieves – September 27th
Cryptocurrency is being increasingly targeted by hackers, with $7.9 million recently stolen in a hack targeting cryptocurrency exchange HTX. The hack attack was identified as soon as it occurred, with HTX authorities stepping up promptly in an innovative way to recover losses. Following the attack, HTX offered a ‘white hat’ ethical hacker a 5% bonus to return the stolen cryptocurrency, amounting to a total bonus of $400,000.
Hack costs Mixin Network $200M – September 26th
Dubbed the ‘biggest hack of the year’, the recent attack on Hong Kong-based digital wallet company, Mixin Network has cost the company $200 million worth of crypto assets. Network authorities have announced that deposits and withdrawals on the site will only recommence once all vulnerabilities have been confirmed and fixed.
Dark web ads are seeing a massive surge – September 25th
There has been a surge of advertisements on the dark web this year, with over 700 adverts advertising Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks through the Internet of Things (IoT) devices having been identified. The cost of employing the sinister DDoS attack services ranges from $20 per day to $1 000 per month, depending on the amount of protection the target has.
Beware of Death by a Billion Bots
US corporations lose an average of 4.3 percent of their online revenues to malicious ‘bots,’ malware designed to resemble human communications. Malware attacks of this nature accounts for an average annual loss of $86.5 million a year for corporations with average annual online revenues of $1.9 billion, according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Netacea, “Death by a Billion Bots: The Accumulating Business Cost of Malicious Automation”.
Pizza Hut threatened by hackers – September 20th
It seems that no one and no business is immune to hacker activity. Recent reports say that Pizza Hut Australia has again been the victim of threat actors a year after its newsmaking Optus cyber attack. Reports allege customers’ data has been compromised by the incident, which occurred in early September, with the fast food outlet having contacted clients to notify them of the data breach.