PGA of America computers were infected this week with a strain of malicious software that locked down critical files and demanded Attack.Ransom cryptocurrency for their return . Officials discovered on Tuesday that servers had been targeted in a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom that blocked them from obtaining access to material relating to major golf tournaments , including this week ’ s PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club . Some signage had been in development for over a year and could not be reproduced quickly , Golfweek reported . The extortion threat Attack.Ransom was clear : Transfer bitcoin to the hackers or lose the files forever . “ Your network has been penetrated . All files on each host in the network have been encrypted with a strong algorythm ( sic ) , ” a ransom read . “ Backups were either encrypted or deleted or backup disks were formatted. ” The note claimed shutting down the system may damage files . The notice included a bitcoin wallet number—where funds could be sent—and a warning that there was no way to get access to the files without a decryption key . The hackers that said they would prove their “ honest intentions ” to the PGA of America by unlocking two files free-of-charge . A source who asked not to be named told Golfweek that officials had no intention of paying the ransom demand Attack.Ransom —following the advice of most law enforcement officials and cybersecurity experts . The network remained locked on Wednesday and external researchers are still investigating . PGA of America has declined to comment . The golfing association did not reveal what ransomware infected its computers . But tech website Bleeping Computer found the demand matched the BitPaymer variant . Researcher Lawrence Abrams said one previous extortion Attack.Ransom scheme asked for Attack.Ransom 53 bitcoins , equivalent to $ 335,000 . Abrams described BitPaymer as a “ secure ransomware ” and said the PGA would either have to rely on backups to regain access to its files or pay Attack.Ransom the significant bitcoin demand Attack.Ransom .

WannaCry only demanded Attack.Ransom $ 300 from each victim . These hackers extorted Attack.Ransom $ 1 million from one South Korean company . Hackers appear to have pulled off Attack.Ransom a $ 1 million heist with ransomware in South Korea . The ransomware attacked Attack.Ransom more than 153 Linux servers that South Korean web provider Nayana hosted , locking up more than 3,400 websites on June 10 . In Nayana 's first announcement a few days later , it said the hackers demanded Attack.Ransom 550 bitcoins to free up all the servers -- about $ 1.62 million . Four days later , Nayana said it 'd negotiated with the attackers and got the payment reduced Attack.Ransom to 397 bitcoins , or about $ 1 million . This is the single largest-known payout for a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom , and it was an attack Attack.Ransom on one company . For comparison , the WannaCry ransomware attacked Attack.Ransom 200,000 computers across 150 countries , and has only pooled $ 127,142 in bitcoins since it surfaced . Ransomware demands Attack.Ransom have risen rapidly over the past year , tripling in price from 2015 to 2016 . But even then , the highest cost of a single ransomware attack Attack.Ransom was $ 28,730 . Nayana agreed to pay Attack.Ransom the ransomware in three installments , and said Saturday it 's already paid Attack.Ransom two-thirds of the $ 1 million demand Attack.Ransom . `` It is very frustrating and difficult , but I am really doing my best and I will do my best to make sure all servers are normalized , '' a Nayana administrator said , according to a Google translation of the blog post . The company is expected to make the final payment Attack.Ransom once all the servers from the first and second payouts Attack.Ransom have been restored . Trend Micro , a cybersecurity research firm , identified the ransomware as Erebus , which targets Linux servers for attacks . It first surfaced in September through web ads , and popped up again in February . `` It 's worth noting that this ransomware is limited in terms of coverage , and is , in fact , heavily concentrated in South Korea , '' Trend Micro researchers said Monday in a blog post . Paying ransomware Attack.Ransom is at the victim 's discretion , but nearly all organizations , including government agencies and security researchers , advise against it .

A new form of ransomware has emerged which is , unusually , being distributed by two separate exploit kits -- one of which was thought to have disappeared -- and demands payment Attack.Ransom in a lesser-known form of cryptocurrency . First seen on January 26 , GandCrab has been spotted being distributed by two exploit kits , RIG EK and GrandSoft EK . According to researchers at security company Malwarebytes , it 's unusual in itself for ransomware to be pushed using an exploit kit , with such tactics usually reserved for trojans and coin-miners . An exploit kit is used by cybercriminals to take advantage of vulnerabilities in systems in order to distribute malware and perform other malicious activities . In contrast , ransomware is usually delivered by spam email . The only other form of ransomware known to be consistently distributed with an exploit kit is Magniber . GandCrab is distributed via the RIG exploit kit , which uses vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and Flash Player to launch JavaScript , Flash , and VBscript-based attacks to distribute malware to users . It 's possible that RIG spreads GandCrab to victims using malvertising on compromised websites , in an attack method similar to that used by Princess ransomware . GandCrab is also distributed using GrandSoft , an exploit kit which first appeared in 2012 , but was thought to have disappeared . The GrandSoft EK takes advantage of a vulnerability in the Java Runtime Environment which allows attackers to remotely execute code , and in this case is used to distribute GandCrab . Once the payload has been dropped and run on a compromised system , GandCrab , for the most part , acts like any other form of ransomware , encrypting Windows files using an RSA algorithm and demanding payment Attack.Ransom for the 'GandCrab Decryptor ' required to unlock the files . The encrypted files gain a .GDCB extension , with the encryption loop designed in such a way it will eventually affect every file on the drive . However , unlike many forms of ransomware , GandCrab does n't demand payment Attack.Ransom in bitcoin , but rather in a form of cryptocurrency called Dash . Those behind the ransomware demand Attack.Ransom 1.5 Dash ( listed on the note as $ 1,200 , although the fluctuating prices mean it 's ever changing ) as a ransom Attack.Ransom , a price which doubles to three Dash ( $ 2,400 ) if the price is n't paid Attack.Ransom within a few days . The demand Attack.Ransom for payment in Dash represents the latest example of ransomware distributors attempting to move away from bitcoin and onto other cryptocurrency , for reasons ranging from increased privacy and security to other forms of blockchain-based virtual currency being less popular than bitcoin and therefore quicker to process . There 's currently no means of decrypting GandCrab ransomware files for free at this time , meaning the best way to avoid falling victim is to ensure all software updates and patches have been applied Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability to ensure the vulnerabilities exploited Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability by the exploit kits ca n't be used to distribute ransomware from infected sites .

Atlanta mayor Keisha Bottoms said on Thursday , March 22 , that hackers attacked Attack.Ransom the city ’ s network system and encrypted data . The details are somewhat slim for now , but hackers reportedly used the SamSam ransomware and demand Attack.Ransom around $ 51,000 in Bitcoin to unlock the city ’ s seized computers . Atlanta is currently working with the Department of Homeland Security , the FBI , Microsoft , and Cisco cybersecurity officials to determine the scope of the damage and regain control of the data held hostage . “ Our Atlanta Information Management team is working diligently with support from Microsoft to resolve the issue , ” the city ’ s official Twitter account states . “ We are confident that our team of technology professionals will be able to restore applications soon . Our city website , Atlantaga.gov , remains accessible and we will provide updates as we receive them. ” As of Thursday afternoon , the city said it faced outages on various “ internal and customer facing applications , ” such as means for accessing court-related information and paying bills . But the city itself isn ’ t exactly under siege : Airport , public safety , and water operations remain unaffected by the attack , and the city payroll wasn ’ t touched . The only bone Atlanta is throwing the public is that the attack affects “ various city systems. ” According to Atlanta ’ s newly appointed chief operating officer , Richard Cox , Atlanta Information Management officials were made aware of problems with internal and customer-facing applications at 5:40 a.m. Thursday . At the time , he acknowledged that the city fell prey to ransomware , but given the investigation is still ongoing , he couldn ’ t provide the extent of the damage . “ The ongoing investigation will determine whether personal information , financial , or employee data has been compromised Attack.Databreach , ” he said during a press briefing . “ As a precaution , we are asking that all employees take the appropriate measures to ensure their data is not compromised Attack.Databreach . The city advises employees to monitor and protect personal information and in the coming days we will offer employees additional resources if needed. ” What the city didn ’ t officially disclose was the ransomware note discovered in the investigation . A screenshot reveals the hackers ’ demands Attack.Ransom : 0.8 Bitcoins for each seized computer , or six bitcoins to unlock all computers held hostage , equaling to around $ 51,000 in real cash . Once Atlanta sends the Bitcoins to a digital wallet , the city is to leave a message containing the host name on a specific website . The hackers will then provide decryption software to release the computers from captivity . The SamSam malware doesn ’ t take the typical route of installing itself on computers when unsuspecting owners click a link within an email . Instead , hackers find Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability unpatched vulnerabilities in network servers and manually unleash SamSam to seize key data systems and cause maximum damage to the company ’ s infrastructure . SamSam is one of many in a family of ransomware targeting government and healthcare organizations . It was first observed in 2015 and encrypts various file types using the Advanced Encryption Standard ( aka Rijndael ) . It then encrypts that key with RSA 2048-bit encryption to make the files utterly unrecoverable . As of Friday morning , Atlanta ’ s main website and its affiliated portals remained unaffected by the ransomware attack Attack.Ransom .

The ransomware is linked to a leaked vulnerability originally kept by the National Security Agency . Major corporations across the world have been hit Attack.Ransom by a wave of ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom that encrypt computers and then demand Attack.Ransom that users pay Attack.Ransom $ 300 to a bitcoin address to restore access . While countries across Europe — the United Kingdom , Ukraine , Spain and France , to name a few — were hit hardest by the outbreak , the virus has now spread to the United States . Today , one of the largest drug makers in the U.S. , Merck , reported being infected by the malware , as did the multinational law firm DLA Piper , which counts more than 20 offices in the U.S. Heritage Valley Health Systems , a health care network that runs two hospitals in Western Pennsylvania , also confirmed in a statement to Recode on Tuesday that it was a victim of the same ransomware attack Attack.Ransom that has spread around the globe . At least one surgery had to be postponed because of the hack , according to a woman interviewed by Pittsburgh Action News 4 . The malware , which has been dubbed NotPetya , has been confirmed by multiple security firms to resemble the WannaCry ransomware attack Attack.Ransom , which in May infected hundreds of thousands of computers by taking advantage of a National Security Agency hacking tool called Eternal Blue . That exploit was leaked last April by a hacker or group of hackers called ShadowBrokers . Eternal Blue takes advantage of a vulnerability in the Windows operating system , for which Microsoft issued Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability a patch earlier this year . Not all Windows users installed the update — hence one of the reasons WannaCry was able to spread . “ Our initial analysis found that the ransomware uses multiple techniques to spread , including one which was addressed Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability by a security update previously provided for all platforms from Windows XP to Windows 10 , ” Microsoft said in a statement to Recode . Microsoft further advised users to exercise caution when opening files in emails from unknown sources , since malware is often spread through email attachments . Microsoft also noted that its antivirus software is capable of detecting and removing the ransomware . Ukraine appears to have been the country most affected by today ’ s ransomware outbreak , according to a chart shared in a tweet by Costin Raiu , the director of a global research team with Kaspersky Lab .

A malicious website initially set up to extort Attack.Ransom visitors to pay a cryptocurrency ransom Attack.Ransom has changed its course . Instead of demanding payment Attack.Ransom via Bitcoin , Ethereum , Bitcoin Cash or Litecoin in exchange for not leaking your password on the internet , the site now hijacks your computer ’ s processing power to mine cryptocurrency in the background . Designed as a copy of the Have I Been Pwned attack , the site began by asking users to enter their emails to see if their password has been compromised Attack.Databreach . Unfortunately , if your password was breached Attack.Databreach , the site demanded Attack.Ransom a “ donation ” of $ 10 by cryptocurrency to not publish your password in plain text on the web . Up to 1.4 billion passwords may have been breached Attack.Databreach , but it ’ s unclear how accurate that figure is . However , because it may be easier — and safer — to change your password than pay the ransom Attack.Ransom , as The Next Web noted , the site shifted its focus from demanding ransomware payments Attack.Ransom to taking over your PC ’ s processing power to mine for cryptocurrency in the background . The publication also confirmed that the malicious site did “ have a database with legitimate passwords , ” but that not all compromised passwords were stored in plain text . The Next Web did not reveal the site ’ s address in its report , citing security reasons , but noted that it doesn ’ t appear that any user had made payment . This is the latest ransomware in recent months that demand Attack.Ransom cryptocurrency as a form of payment . Prior to this incident Attack.Ransom , Thanatos encrypted files on a user ’ s PC by hijacking it using a brute force method . If you want to regain access to those files , you had to send payment Attack.Ransom via cryptocurrency to get a key to decrypt your files . However , at the time , there didn ’ t appear to be a proper decryption key even if you paid . According to a recent Google report , extortionists made out with $ 25 million in just two years , and cryptocurrency was the preferred way to get paid Attack.Ransom . Hackers are also changing the game when it comes to data theft Attack.Databreach . Rather than leaking Attack.Databreach the information to the dark markets , an IBM X-Force Intelligence Index report revealed that hackers prefer to hold files hostage in exchange for a ransom payment Attack.Ransom .

IBM ’ s latest X-Force Threat Intelligence Index report reveals that more than 2.9 billion records were leaked Attack.Databreach through publicly disclosed incidents in 2017 . While that sounds horribly bad , there ’ s a bright side to this stormy disclosure : the number is 25 percent lower than the amount of records leaked Attack.Databreach in 2016 . Why ? Because hackers are shifting over to ransomware . They ’ re becoming more focused on holding files hostage for money than on unleashing all that data to the dark markets . According to IBM , this shift to ransomware cost corporations more than $ 8 billion globally during 2017 , a number derived from downtime , ransom payments Attack.Ransom , and other impacts on day-to-day business . The global logistics and transportation industries alone lost “ millions of dollars ” in revenue during 2017 due to ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom . Ransomware is a type of malware that infiltrates a network and encrypts files on connected PCs . These files become unrecoverable , and require a “ key ” generated by the hacker to be released from captivity . These keys are provided after a payment using cryptocurrency , adding to the overall cost corporations incur due to downtime . Hiring a third party to recover the files may or may not work , depending on the level of encryption . “ With the potentially irreversible encryption lock of crypto-ransomware , victims without up-to-date backups often choose to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom their attackers demand Attack.Ransom , ” the report states . “ Losing one ’ s files on personal devices may cost a few hundred dollars , but that effect extends much further for organizations where infected users could cause the company to lose massive amounts of data , and possibly to have to pay Attack.Ransom the criminals considerable sums of money to get it back. ” The report reveals that many organizations keep cryptocurrency on hand so they can resolve the problem quickly and reduce costly downtime . Law enforcement agencies discourage payments Attack.Ransom to hackers , but the rising ransomware “ epidemic ” is getting to the point where it may potentially cost corporations across the globe more than $ 11.5 billion annually by 2019 , according to research by Cybersecurity Ventures . Malware , by contrast , values leaked personal data over the potential financial gain of locking sensitive data on corporate networks .

LabCorp experienced a breach this past weekend , which it nows says was a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom . The intrusion has also prompted concerns that patient data may have also been stolen Attack.Databreach . One of the biggest clinical lab testing companies in the world , LabCorp , was hit Attack.Ransom with a `` new variant of ransomware '' over the weekend . `` LabCorp promptly took certain systems offline as a part of its comprehensive response to contain and remove the ransomware from its system , '' the company told PCMag in an email . `` We are working to restore additional systems and functions over the next several days . '' LabCorp declined to say what variant of ransomware was used . But according to The Wall Street Journal , the company was hit Attack.Ransom with a strain known as SamSam . In March , the same strain attacked Attack.Ransom the city of Atlanta 's IT network . Like other ransomware variants , SamSam will effectively lock down a computer , encrypting all the files inside , and then demand Attack.Ransom the victim pay up Attack.Ransom to free the system . In the Atlanta attack Attack.Ransom , the anonymous hackers demanded Attack.Ransom $ 51,000 , which the city government reportedly refused to pay Attack.Ransom . How much the hackers are demanding Attack.Ransom from LabCorp is n't clear ; the company declined to answer further questions about the attack Attack.Ransom or if it will pay the ransom Attack.Ransom . The lab testing provider first reported the breach on Monday , initially describing it as `` suspicious activity '' on the company 's IT systems that relate to healthcare diagnostics . This prompted fears that patient data may have been stolen Attack.Databreach . The North Carolina-based company processes more than 2.5 million lab tests per week and has over 1,900 patient centers across the US . `` LabCorp also has connections to most of the hospitals and other clinics in the United States , '' Pravin Kothari , CEO of cybersecurity firm CipherCloud , said in an email . `` All of this presents , at some point , perhaps an increased risk of cyber attacks propagating and moving through this expanded ecosystem . '' On Thursday , LabCorp issued a new statement and said the attack Attack.Ransom was a ransomware strain . At this point , the company has found `` no evidence of theft Attack.Databreach or misuse of data , '' but it 's continuing to investigate . `` As part of our in-depth and ongoing investigation into this incident , LabCorp has engaged outside security experts and is working with authorities , including law enforcement , '' the company added .

The Advocate sought the ransom demand Attack.Ransom amount with a public records request of the Licking County Commissioners . Licking County Prosecutor Bill Hayes provided The Advocate the information Monday . A computer virus discovered Jan 31 caused Licking County government to shut down about 1,000 computers and its phone systems to prevent the virus from spreading , protect data and preserve evidence . The FBI and Bureau of Criminal Investigation were notified . County officials chose not to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom , and recovered data from its backups . By Feb 16 , most of the county system was back in service . Licking County Commissioner Tim Bubb said the price per bitcoin was about $ 1,100 when the computers were hacked , making the demand Attack.Ransom about $ 30,000 . As of 4 p.m. Monday , the value of one bitcoin was $ 1,235 . The computer hack cost the county more than $ 50,000 , Bubb said , which includes insurance and overtime , but he does not regret refusing to pay the demand Attack.Ransom . `` I 'm just kind of hard-nosed about that , '' Bubb said . `` I feel we were violated by people with criminal intent , and we do n't owe them anything . '' Bubb said people have asked him why the county did n't just pay the demand Attack.Ransom , but Bubb said it may not have been that simple . `` There was no guarantee that would have been the final price , or that they would have acted honorably . There 's a certain amount of unknown that would make you uneasy . '' Sylint , a cyber security firm assisting the county , was set to notify the state that the county 's computer system was virus-free , Bubb said . The state asked for the assurance before it hooked back up with the county .

Now , more than ever , a recent report suggests that India ranks second in ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom , this does not come as a surprise to many , especially the industry experts , considering that the country ’ s current state of digital security isn ’ t geared up to handle the emerging threats . It ’ s very likely that India tops the list soon , considering the rapid growth of ransomware . To compound it , the growth in “ Internet of Things ” ( IoT ) industry and the vulnerability towards cyber infections will further fuel new types of malware threats . We had reported earlier in our findings that over 180 Indian companies were victims of Ransomware online extortion schemes Attack.Ransom in the first six months of the year 2016 , causing a loss of whopping $ 3 billion . However , the latest industry reports show a rather grim picture around Ransomware - the findings indicate that businesses in India are most at risk to cyber security attacks globally , with organizations in the country experiencing the highest number of weekly security incidents of all Asian countries surveyed ( 14.8 per cent ) . At the heart of it , Ransomware is a class of malware that ’ s designed for moneymaking with clear criminal intent . The puzzling part about Ransomware is that , no matter what the situation is , even if the ransom is paid Attack.Ransom , there is no guarantee that computer users will be able to fully access their systems ever again . The criminal may flee with the money and the files- both ! While some hackers instruct Attack.Ransom victims to pay Attack.Ransom through Bitcoin , MoneyPak or other online methods , attackers could also demand Attack.Ransom credit card data , adding another level of financial loss altogether . Cryptolocker , Petya and Dogspectus are three of the major ransomware making their presence felt strongly . Just like kidnapping for ransom Attack.Ransom , it ’ s a virtual kidnapping Attack.Ransom of data where information is kept as a hostage and money is demanded Attack.Ransom in exchange of freeing the hostage . We all know how much damage a data breach Attack.Databreach can cost- monetarily as well as reputation wise . Once a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom strikes , clicking of files yield no results . The malware has corrupted Attack.Databreach the files and converted them into foreign MP3 files or an encrypted RSA format . And then , the victim gets a note in a text file or HTML file : “ Help_Decrypt_Your_Files ” . In a majority of the cases , once ransomware enters a system , there is no way a user can remove it without losing some files or data , even if one pay the ransom Attack.Ransom . Of late , ransomware has even left behind advanced persistent threat ( APT ) network attacks to grab the numero uno spot in the list of deadliest cyber crimes . Ransomware is fast evolving in form and increasing in number as well , thereby making it more difficult to protect against it . Each version has some properties that are unique to that version alone . This is scary because what is means is , if someone finds a solution to block or erase one version of a malware , that same solution may not work for the newer versions . However , a vast number of ransomware variants are still utilizing the same type of encryption technologies to infect systems . And what ’ s more , these encryption technologies are not just limited to common ones like Tor or I2P communication , but beyond

Ransomware authors are nothing if not persistent . They continue to try new evasion techniques , new programming languages , new naming conventions , and even more forceful demand Attack.Ransom tactics to pressure victims into paying Attack.Ransom . One new technique involves packaging ransomware in RarSFX executable files . Last week we talked about a multi-component variant of Cerber ( detected as RANSOM_CERBER ) found packaged in a SFX file , a feature that helps it evade machine learning . This week , we saw CrptXXX ( detected by Trend Micro as RANSOM_CRPTX.A ) also in a SFX package—most likely for the same reason . This particular ransomware can not execute fully without the correct parameters and other components inside its package . If CrptXXX successfully infects a system , the victim receives Attack.Ransom a relatively straightforward ransom note . They are instructed to go to a specific .onion site and input their unique ID , then follow the payment instructions . French Locker ( detected by Trend Micro as RANSOM_LELEOCK.A ) is a typical ransomware made by developers who want to get paid quickly . This ransomware displays a 10 minute timer and deletes one of the victim 's encrypted files for every 10 minutes that passes . It arrives through malicious sites or is dropped by other malware , and victims can choose between English or a French version . Initially , the ransomware will install an autostart registry for its dropped copy , which triggers its encryption routine once the machine reboots . Encrypted files are appended with the .lelele extension . SAMSAM has been updated with a new variant ( detected by Trend Micro as RANSOM_SAMAS.I ) .The previous version made waves in 2016 after it targeted vulnerable hospital servers . Traditionally , ransomware spreads through social engineering , malvertisments , or spam—SAMSAM set itself apart when it targeted the network infrastructure of certain healthcare facilities . The threat actors behind this ransomware gain access to the administrative rights of a network and pinpoint specific target hosts . They deploy to a sizeable portion of the victim ’ s network , causing essential systems and services to shut down , leaving the target facility little choice but to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom . This is one of the latest variants of SAMSAM , though this ransomware family constantly changes its behavior when its threat indicators or IOCs are made public . The first ransomware to be written in Google ’ s Go programming language was detected late last year , and now we have another to add to the list . Apart from the programming language used , BrainCrypt ( detected by Trend Micro as RANSOM_BRAINCRYPT ) is a relatively standard ransomware . There are no specific details in the ransom note , just simple instructions explaining the situation and telling the victim to email the threat actors . The continuing evolution of ransomware shows how cybercriminals quick to adopt the latest technology and techniques to make their malware more effective . Because of this , all users should stay vigilant and updated on the latest threat developments .

FireEye has identified a set of financially motivated intrusion operations being carried out by a threat actor we have dubbed FIN10 . FIN10 is known for compromising Attack.Databreach networks , stealing Attack.Databreach sensitive data , and directly engaging victim executives and board members in an attempt to extort Attack.Ransom them into paying Attack.Ransom between 100 and 500 bitcoins ( valued at between $ 125,000 and $ 620,000 as of mid April 2017 ) . For some victims that did not give into the demand Attack.Ransom , FIN10 escalated their operation and destroyed critical production systems and leaked Attack.Databreach stolen data to journalists in an attempt to increase visibility of the compromise and coerce victims into paying up Attack.Ransom . The first known FIN10 operation was in 2013 and their operations have continued until at least 2016 . To date , we are primarily aware of Canadian victims – specifically casinos and mining organizations . Given the release of sensitive victim data , extortion Attack.Ransom , and destruction of systems , FireEye considers FIN10 to be one of the most disruptive threat actors observed in the region so far .

The first reported instance of a cyber attack on a utilities provider will happen this year . That ’ s according to Perry Stoneman , Global Head of Utilities at consulting firm Capgemini , who told ELN it would likely take the form of a ransomware attack Attack.Ransom . This is when computer systems are hacked by criminals who then demand Attack.Ransom a sum of money to avoid a major city having its power cut off . Mr Stoneman believes the hackers would want their attack to be “ visible , attention-catching and newsworthy ” – turning the lights out is just that . He said : “ It could be something more malicious than just wanting money . Mr Stoneman told ELN although the risks do increase as energy systems become more dependent on technology , the main reason the threat is growing is because there are larger numbers of hackers with more advanced skills than ever before .

Aspiring Netflix users who don ’ t want to actually pay for the popular video on demand service are being targeted with a new type of ransomware . Detected as Netix by Trend Micro , the ransomware is hidden in an executable ( Netflix Login Generator v1.1.exe ) that poses as Attack.Phishing a software for creating valid Netflix login credentials . The file is usually offered for download on sites sharing crackers and free access to paid online services . Users who download and run the file will be faced with the above screen . Clicking the “ Generate Login ! ” button will open another one , offering a username and password . Whether the login credentials actually work or not is unknown . But the other executable dropped by the initial one does work , and it starts encrypting a variety of file types in the machine ’ s C : \Users directory , including images , videos , archive files , and Office documents . “ The ransomware employs AES-256 encryption algorithm and appends the encrypted files with the .se extension . The ransom notes demand Attack.Ransom $ 100 worth of Bitcoin ( 0.18 BTC ) from its victims , ” Trend Micro warns . The ransomware needs to connect to a C & C server to work and to receive Attack.Ransom the ransom note and warning to display : Interestingly enough , only users of Windows 7 or 10 are in danger from this particular piece of ransomware , as it won ’ t run on other versions of the OS . Victims are urged by the crooks to pay the ransom Attack.Ransom in order to receive the decryption key , but should know that even if they do , there is no guarantee they will get the key . Regularly backing up important files is the best way to assure yourself that even if you fall for social engineering approaches such as this one , you ’ ll be able to avoid paying the ransom Attack.Ransom and losing your files forever

Newark 's Service Director David Rhodes said the city 's system has not been hurt by the cyber attack and nothing like that has happened to the city before . Steve Baum , Newark 's safety director , said the city is using the unfortunate incident to educate city employees on best practices for computers . `` We get complacent because everybody uses computers every day and sometimes we just need to be reminded , '' he said . A computer virus discovered late Tuesday caused Licking County government to shut down its computers and phone systems indefinitely to prevent the virus from spreading , protect data and preserve evidence . The FBI and Bureau of Criminal Investigation have been notified . The virus , accompanied by a financial demand Attack.Ransom , is labeled ransomware , which has hit Attack.Ransom several local governments in Ohio and was the subject of a warning from the state auditor last summer . One tip , Baum said , is not to open personal emails on a work computer and do n't open emails or attachments from unknown senders . Baum said in the past city employees have said something if they 've received questionable emails . `` If they see something that seems suspicious about their computer or an email that they got or something like that , but they ’ ve opened it and they notify somebody , we can shut that section down and isolate the problem as quick as possible and minimize the amount of damage that it does , '' he said .