cryptocurrency for their return . Officials discovered on Tuesday that servers had been targeted in a ransomware attackAttack.Ransomthat 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 threatAttack.Ransomwas 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 demandAttack.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 extortionAttack.Ransomscheme asked forAttack.Ransom53 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 payAttack.Ransomthe significant bitcoin demandAttack.Ransom.
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paidAttack.Ransoma $ 17,000 ransomAttack.Ransomin bitcoin to a hacker who seized control of the hospital 's computer systems and would give back access only when the money was paidAttack.Ransom, the hospital 's chief executive said Wednesday . The assaultAttack.Ransomon Hollywood Presbyterian occurred Feb 5 , when hackers using malware infected the institution 's computers , preventing hospital staff from being able to communicate from those devices , said Chief Executive Allen Stefanek . The hacker demandedAttack.Ransom40 bitcoin , the equivalent of about $ 17,000 , he said . `` The malware locks systems by encrypting files and demanding ransomAttack.Ransomto obtain the decryption key . The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransomAttack.Ransomand obtain the decryption key , '' Stefanek said . `` In the best interest of restoring normal operations , we did this . '' The hospital said it alerted authorities and was able to regain control of all its computer systems by Monday , with the assistance of technology experts . Stefanek said patient care was never compromisedAttack.Databreach, nor were hospital records . Top hospital officials called the Los Angeles Police Department last week , according to police Lt John Jenal . Laura Eimiller , an FBI spokeswoman , said the bureau has taken over the hacking investigation but declined to discuss specifics of the case . Law enforcement sources told The Times that the hospital paid the ransomAttack.Ransombefore reaching out to law enforcement for assistance . The attack forced the hospital to return to pen and paper for its record-keeping .
Senate Democrats are still rebuilding their computer system after hackers demanded a ransomAttack.Ransomearlier this month to unlock the network . The state legislators ' offices continue to operate via a combination of cell phones and laptops , some personal and some provided by the caucus . In the last two weeks , email service was also restored . On Monday , Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa said Microsoft technicians would begin going around to strip down and rebuild every computer with the goal of having everything restored in the next several days . `` [ They are ] working to rebuild our network so we 're all operating off one system , '' the Allegheny County Democrat said . `` We 're rebooting that very soon . '' Costa said he can not comment on the ongoing investigation or the exact dollar amount demandedAttack.Ransomby the hackers . The caucus has not and will not pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, he said . `` For people who do pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, the likelihood they 'll get the codes they need to undo the encryption is much lower than people talk about , '' he said . `` And there are a number of times it 's happened you do n't hear about . '' Hackers who launch such attacks lock their targets out of their data in an effort to extract a ransomAttack.Ransomfor its return . The security firm SonicWall estimated 638 million ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomthat cost $ 209 million last year , more than 167 times the 3.8 million attacksAttack.Ransomrecorded in 2015 .
The boss of a company held to ransomAttack.Ransomby computer hackers is warning others not to fall victim . Two years ago Stuart Kettell ’ s company Kettell Video Productions was targeted by hackers who encrypted all his files and demanded moneyAttack.Ransomto decrypt them . Stuart Kettell may be best known for his light hearted charity fund raising challenges but this cyber attack was no joke . The hackers infiltrated computer systems at the Warwick based company . They made it impossible for staff to see any of the company data and demandedAttack.Ransom£1,000 in online currency bitcoins to put matters right .
City employees in Atlanta coming to work Friday morning were told not to turn on their computers and WiFi at the Atlanta airport was turned off due to a ransomware attackAttack.Ransomthat hitAttack.Ransommunicipal systems on Thursday . As employees walked into city hall for work , they were handed a printed notice telling them to not use their computers until they were cleared by the municipal IT group , the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported . At a news conference Friday afternoon , Atlanta chief operating officer Richard Cox said that the WiFi at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport had been disabled out of `` an abundance of caution . '' The city is still working on mitigating the ransomware and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms did not answer questions from reporters as to whether the attack had ended . `` What we want to make sure of is that we aren ’ t putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound . We want to make sure that we take the appropriate steps , '' she said . Atlanta doesn ’ t know who is behind the attack , the mayor said . The good news is that while “ this is a massive inconvenience to the city , it is not life and death , ” she said . Police , fire and other vital services are still fully functional , Cox said . The attack hit early Thursday morning . Bottoms has repeatedly told employees they should monitor their bank accounts because city officials don ’ t yet know what information was compromisedAttack.Databreachin the attackAttack.Databreach. `` Let 's just assume that if your personal information is housed by the City of Atlanta , whether it be because you are a customer who goes online and pays your bills or any employee or even a retiree , we do n't know the extent , so we just ask that you be vigilant , '' Bottoms said . The ransomware is affecting applications that customers use to pay bills and access court-related information among other things , Bottoms said . The attackers demandedAttack.Ransomthe equivalent of $ 51,000 in digital currency to unlock the system . The city is working with the FBI and local law enforcement to investigate the attack , Cox said . While it has been a difficult two days , Atlanta will in the end prevail , he said . `` The city was around before computers were around , said Cox . `` We ’ ll rise from the ashes , '' he added
WannaCry only demandedAttack.Ransom$ 300 from each victim . These hackers extortedAttack.Ransom$ 1 million from one South Korean company . Hackers appear to have pulled offAttack.Ransoma $ 1 million heist with ransomware in South Korea . The ransomware attackedAttack.Ransommore 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 demandedAttack.Ransom550 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 reducedAttack.Ransomto 397 bitcoins , or about $ 1 million . This is the single largest-known payout for a ransomware attackAttack.Ransom, and it was an attackAttack.Ransomon one company . For comparison , the WannaCry ransomware attackedAttack.Ransom200,000 computers across 150 countries , and has only pooled $ 127,142 in bitcoins since it surfaced . Ransomware demandsAttack.Ransomhave risen rapidly over the past year , tripling in price from 2015 to 2016 . But even then , the highest cost of a single ransomware attackAttack.Ransomwas $ 28,730 . Nayana agreed to payAttack.Ransomthe ransomware in three installments , and said Saturday it 's already paidAttack.Ransomtwo-thirds of the $ 1 million demandAttack.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 paymentAttack.Ransomonce all the servers from the first and second payoutsAttack.Ransomhave 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 ransomwareAttack.Ransomis at the victim 's discretion , but nearly all organizations , including government agencies and security researchers , advise against it .
Cyber criminals took a second swing at Mecklenburg County government on Thursday after officials rejected a demand for moneyAttack.Ransomfollowing a ransomware attackAttack.Ransom. The follow-up attempts to hold the county hostage over illegally encrypted data came just hours after County Manager Dena Diorio announced she ’ d decided against payingAttack.Ransoma hacker ransomAttack.Ransom. Instead of agreeing to payAttack.Ransomcriminals , she said Wednesday , the county will rebuild its system applications and restore files and data from backups . But by Thursday afternoon , hackers tried to strike again . Diorio sent staff members an email saying , “ I have a new warning for employees. ” As the county ’ s IT staff worked to recover from the first cyberattack , Diorio said , they discovered more attempts to compromiseAttack.Databreachcomputers and data on Thursday . “ To limit the possibility of a new infection , ITS is disabling employees ’ ability to open attachments generated by DropBox and Google Documents , ” she wrote in an email . “ The best advice for now is to limit your use of emails containing attachments , and try to conduct as much business as possible by phone or in person. ” She described the aftermath of the ransomware attackAttack.Ransomas a “ crisis ” and reassured employees they should not feel personally responsible for the incident . The county first learned of the problem earlier this week after an employee openedAttack.Phishinga malicious “ phishing ” email and accessed an attached file that unleashed a widespread problem inside the county ’ s network of computers and information technology . The intent of that ransomware attackAttack.Ransomwas to essentially access as many county government files and data servers as possible . Then , the information was encrypted or locked , keeping employees at the county from accessing operating systems and files . The person or people responsible for the infiltration then demandedAttack.Ransomthe county payAttack.Ransomtwo bitcoins , or about $ 23,000 , in exchange for a release of the locked data . The county refused to payAttack.Ransom. County officials say they anticipate the recovery time for Mecklenburg County government operations will take days . “ We are open for business , and we are slow , but there ’ s no indication of any data lossAttack.Databreachor that personal information was compromisedAttack.Databreach, ” Diorio said . Diorio said third-party security experts believe the attackAttack.Ransomearlier this week by a new strain of ransomware called LockCrypt originated from Iran or Ukraine . Forty-eight of about 500 county computer servers were affected .
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana hospital said it paidAttack.Ransoma $ 50,000 ransomAttack.Ransomto hackers who hijacked patient data . The ransomware attackAttack.Ransomaccessed the computers of Hancock Health in Greenfield through an outside vendor 's account Thursday . It quickly infected the system by locking out data and changing the names of more than 1,400 files to `` I 'm sorry . '' The virus demandedAttack.Ransomfour bitcoins in exchange for unlocking the data , which included patient medical records and company emails . The hospital paidAttack.Ransomthe amount , about $ 50,000 at the time , early Saturday morning , said Rob Matt , senior vice president and chief strategy officer . `` It was n't an easy decision , '' Matt said . `` When you weigh the cost of delivering high-quality care ... versus not paying and bearing the consequences of a new system . '' The data started unlocking soon after the money was transferred , Matt said . `` The amount of the ransomAttack.Ransomwas reasonable in respect to the cost of continuing down time and not being able to care for patients , '' Matt said . Hancock Health includes about two dozen health care facilities , including Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield , about 15 miles east of Indianapolis . The health system said in a news release that patient data was not compromisedAttack.Databreach. Life support and other critical hospital services were not affected , and patient safety was never at risk . Ransomware is a growing digital extortion technique that affected tens of thousands of Americans in 2016 , USA TODAY reported . Criminals use various phishing methodsAttack.Phishingthrough emails or bogus links to infect victims with malicious software . The virus infects the computer network by encrypting files or locking down the entire system . Victims log on and receive a message telling them the files have been hijacked and to get the files back they will have to payAttack.Ransom. Hospitals are a frequent target of these attacks . In May , a ransomware virus affected more than 200,000 victims in 150 countries , including more than 20 % of hospitals in the United Kingdom . That attack was later traced to North Korea . Hancock Health said it worked with the FBI and hired an Indianapolis cybersecurity expert for advice on how to respond to the attack . The systems were back Monday after paying the ransomAttack.Ransom. “ We were in a very precarious situation at the time of the attack , '' Hancock Health CEO Steve Long said in a statement . `` With the ice and snowstorm at hand , coupled with the one of the worst flu seasons in memory , we wanted to recover our systems in the quickest way possible . '' Hospital officials could have retrieved back up files , but Long said they feared restoring the hijacked data would take too long . `` We made the deliberate decision , ” Long said , `` to pay the ransomAttack.Ransomto expedite our return to full operations . ''
Nearly a week after it became the target of one of the largest ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomto date , the City of Atlanta has made progress toward recovery , but it is still far from business as usual . Hackers encrypted many of the city government 's vital data and computer systems . The ransomware attackAttack.Ransom, which Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms characterized as `` a hostage situation , '' forced the city to shut down municipal courts and even prevented residents from paying bills online . The city has been unable to issue warrants , and in many cases city employees have had to fill out forms and reports by hand . The hackers demandedAttack.Ransomthat officials pay a ransomAttack.Ransomof US $ 51,000 to be sent to a bitcoin wallet . Threat researchers from Dell-owned Secureworks , which is based in Atlanta , have been working to help the city recover from the attack . The security firm identified the assailants as the SamSam hacking group , The New York Times reported on Thursday . That organization has been known for similar ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom; it typically makes ransom demandsAttack.Ransomof $ 50,000 or more , usually payable only with bitcoin . Secureworks has been working with the city 's incident response team as well as the FBI , the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service . In addition , a number of independent experts , including researchers from Georgia Tech , have been called in to determine how the attack occurred and help strategize to prevent another such attack . As of Thursday , the city 's Department of Information Management , which first discovered the attack on March 21 , said that it had found no evidence that customer or employee data was compromisedAttack.Databreach. It nevertheless encouraged everyone to take precautionary measures , including the monitoring of personal accounts and protecting personal information .
Ticketfly has been grounded . After a `` series of recent issues , '' the online ticketing service took down all its websites Thursday , saying it was `` the target of a cyber incident . '' `` Out of an abundance of caution , we have taken all Ticketfly systems temporarily offline as we continue to look into the issue , '' the company said across its many properties . Ticketfly did n't comment on whether any user information , such as credit card data , had been stolenAttack.Databreachin the cyberattackAttack.Databreach. `` We realize the gravity of this decision , but the security of client and customer data is our top priority , '' a Ticketfly spokeswoman said in an email . The company 's pages have been down since 6 a.m . ET . A hacker who goes by `` IShAkDz '' has taken credit for the attack . Before Ticketfly took down its websites , the hacker left a taunting message across the service 's website : `` Your security down , I 'm not sorry . Next time I will publishAttack.Databreachdatabase . '' The hacker , who also left an e-mail address , appeared to have a database with more than 4,000 spreadsheets holding people 's information , including email addresses , phone numbers , names and addresses . In an email , the attacker told CNET that he or she contacted TicketFly about the potential exploit multiple times , but did n't hear back . The attacker demandedAttack.RansomTicketFly payAttack.Ransom1 bitcoin to fix the cyberattackAttack.Ransom, which is currently worth $ 7,544 . The Ticketfly spokeswoman did n't comment on the alleged hacker . Eventbrite , which owns Ticketfly , does n't have any issues on its website .
Six weeks after ransomware forced Colorado Department of Transportation ’ s back-end operations offline , the agency is back to 80 percent functionality — at an estimated cost of up to $ 1.5 million , according to the state . Colorado officials said they never caved to the attacker ’ s demands to pay bitcoinAttack.Ransomin order to recover encrypted computer files . But clearing each computer took time and additional resources — including the Colorado National Guard — to investigate , contain and recover . “ We were able to recover from the SamSam attack relatively quickly due to our robust backup plan and our segmentation strategies , ” Brandi Simmons , a spokesperson for Colorado ’ s Office of Information Technology , said in an email . “ We are still capturing costs associated with the incident , but our estimate is between $ 1M and $ 1.5M. ” What started with a core team of 25 IT employees , Simmons said , ballooned to 150 “ during the peak of the incident ” — March 2-9 . She added that others included CDOT , the FBI , state emergency operations and private companies . The million-dollar estimate includes only overtime pay and other unexpected costs . The state ’ s new backup system prevented data loss , but personal data on employees ’ computers may not be recovered . The cyberattack started around Feb 21 when a variant of the SamSam ransomware hijacked CDOT computer files . CDOT shut down more than 2,000 computers . Its employees had to use personal devices to check email . The state did not share the value of bitcoin that attackers demandedAttack.Ransom. Elsewhere , SamSam attacked the city of Atlanta , debilitating computer systems that residents used to pay traffic tickets , report potholes and access Wi-Fi at the airport . The city hasn ’ t issued a public update since March 30 , and a city spokesman said Thursday there is nothing new to share . Attackers demandedAttack.Ransom$ 51,000 worth of bitcoin . Asked whether Atlanta has paid the ransomAttack.Ransom, spokeswoman Anne Torres said : “ Unfortunately , we can not comment further on the ransomAttack.Ransom. ” The rise of ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomhas caused some to wonder whether it ’ s worth paying to avoid business outages — Hancock Health in Indiana paidAttack.Ransom$ 55,000 to get its files back . Dan Likarish , a computer professor at Denver ’ s Regis University , said there ’ s still a good reason not to do it . “ If you pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, you ’ re supporting the criminal , ” said Likarish , adding there ’ s also no guarantee the attacker will return computer files intact . “ The weasel answer ? It ’ s a risk mitigation . That ’ s the way we label ourselves . We talk to upper management , present the business case that we ’ ve identified the problem , let ’ s just pay . That ’ s what a lot of hospitals have done . It ’ s not unusual to pay for the key and go about your business . It depends on how sophisticated your security staff is . If you don ’ t have it , what do you do ? You ’ ve got to keep things running. ” Likarish said he was able to help with efforts to contain the CDOT attack and was in awe at how the state ’ s IT office swooped in and took command . While IT staff had already updated its own computer operations , not every state agency is on the same system , including CDOT . “ People are listening to them now , ” Likarish said .
Six weeks after ransomware forced Colorado Department of Transportation ’ s back-end operations offline , the agency is back to 80 percent functionality — at an estimated cost of up to $ 1.5 million , according to the state . Colorado officials said they never caved to the attacker ’ s demands to pay bitcoinAttack.Ransomin order to recover encrypted computer files . But clearing each computer took time and additional resources — including the Colorado National Guard — to investigate , contain and recover . “ We were able to recover from the SamSam attack relatively quickly due to our robust backup plan and our segmentation strategies , ” Brandi Simmons , a spokesperson for Colorado ’ s Office of Information Technology , said in an email . “ We are still capturing costs associated with the incident , but our estimate is between $ 1M and $ 1.5M. ” What started with a core team of 25 IT employees , Simmons said , ballooned to 150 “ during the peak of the incident ” — March 2-9 . She added that others included CDOT , the FBI , state emergency operations and private companies . The million-dollar estimate includes only overtime pay and other unexpected costs . The state ’ s new backup system prevented data loss , but personal data on employees ’ computers may not be recovered . The cyberattack started around Feb 21 when a variant of the SamSam ransomware hijacked CDOT computer files . CDOT shut down more than 2,000 computers . Its employees had to use personal devices to check email . The state did not share the value of bitcoin that attackers demandedAttack.Ransom. Elsewhere , SamSam attacked the city of Atlanta , debilitating computer systems that residents used to pay traffic tickets , report potholes and access Wi-Fi at the airport . The city hasn ’ t issued a public update since March 30 , and a city spokesman said Thursday there is nothing new to share . Attackers demandedAttack.Ransom$ 51,000 worth of bitcoin . Asked whether Atlanta has paid the ransomAttack.Ransom, spokeswoman Anne Torres said : “ Unfortunately , we can not comment further on the ransomAttack.Ransom. ” The rise of ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomhas caused some to wonder whether it ’ s worth paying to avoid business outages — Hancock Health in Indiana paidAttack.Ransom$ 55,000 to get its files back . Dan Likarish , a computer professor at Denver ’ s Regis University , said there ’ s still a good reason not to do it . “ If you pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, you ’ re supporting the criminal , ” said Likarish , adding there ’ s also no guarantee the attacker will return computer files intact . “ The weasel answer ? It ’ s a risk mitigation . That ’ s the way we label ourselves . We talk to upper management , present the business case that we ’ ve identified the problem , let ’ s just pay . That ’ s what a lot of hospitals have done . It ’ s not unusual to pay for the key and go about your business . It depends on how sophisticated your security staff is . If you don ’ t have it , what do you do ? You ’ ve got to keep things running. ” Likarish said he was able to help with efforts to contain the CDOT attack and was in awe at how the state ’ s IT office swooped in and took command . While IT staff had already updated its own computer operations , not every state agency is on the same system , including CDOT . “ People are listening to them now , ” Likarish said .
When two ransomware attacks hitAttack.Ransomthe city of Riverside in April and May , it wasn ’ t the first time the city ’ s public safety servers lost data because of a malicious virus , this newspaper found in a review of city records . A check of newspapers across Ohio reveals similar unfortunate targets around the state : Licking County government , the Columbiana County courts and townships in Clinton and Morrow counties were once all ransomware victims . In Clark County , hackers encrypted the Mad River Twp . Fire and EMS servers with ransomware in December . The damage extends across the nation : When a library system in South Carolina faced a ransomware attackAttack.Ransom, patrons couldn ’ t check out or return books . In Richmond , Indiana , the local housing agency fell victim to a $ 8,000 ransomAttack.Ransom. Hackers shut down 2,000 computers at Colorado ’ s transportation department , then attacked again when the agency tried to recover . While the hackers ’ ideal target — and the damage caused — varies , one certainty is that local governments are not exempt from the pain of ransomware , which is malicious software that threatens to block access to data or to publish it unless the infected organization pays a ransomAttack.Ransom. The ransom demandsAttack.Ransomare often relatively small compared to an organization ’ s overall budget , but the cost of avoiding payment can be steep , as the city of Atlanta found this year . An attacker demandedAttack.Ransoma $ 50,000 ransomAttack.Ransomto restore the Atlanta ’ s systems , but the city ended up shelling out nearly $ 2.7 million on eight emergency contracts in an attempt to fix the problem . Experts encouraged all computer users to follow one rule to avoid ransomware ’ s predilection for data destruction . “ Real simple , ” said John Moore , a computer technician in Trotwood . “ Back up your data. ” Prior attack uncovered Hackers hit Riverside ’ s police computers with ransomware several years before the latest incidents , emails obtained by the newspaper show . The attack — previously unknown to the public before this story — occurred under a prior city manager and also saw the police department lose documents , according to an email from Councilman Steve Fullenkamp to other city leaders . Sometimes , as was the case with at least one of Riverside ’ s recent attacks , the virus can be downloaded by clicking on an infected email . Organizations often don ’ t learn they have been infected until they can ’ t access their data or until computer messages appear demanding a ransom paymentAttack.Ransomin exchange for a decryption key , according to the FBI ’ s website . The first of the recent attacks against Riverside erased about 10 months of police records , the records show . The second attack wiped just several hours of data , because the city had backed-up the data .
A malicious website initially set up to extortAttack.Ransomvisitors to pay a cryptocurrency ransomAttack.Ransomhas changed its course . Instead of demanding paymentAttack.Ransomvia 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 compromisedAttack.Databreach. Unfortunately , if your password was breachedAttack.Databreach, the site demandedAttack.Ransoma “ 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 breachedAttack.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 ransomAttack.Ransom, as The Next Web noted , the site shifted its focus from demanding ransomware paymentsAttack.Ransomto 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 demandAttack.Ransomcryptocurrency as a form of payment . Prior to this incidentAttack.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 paymentAttack.Ransomvia 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 paidAttack.Ransom. Hackers are also changing the game when it comes to data theftAttack.Databreach. Rather than leakingAttack.Databreachthe 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 paymentAttack.Ransom.
LabCorp experienced a breach this past weekend , which it nows says was a ransomware attackAttack.Ransom. The intrusion has also prompted concerns that patient data may have also been stolenAttack.Databreach. One of the biggest clinical lab testing companies in the world , LabCorp , was hitAttack.Ransomwith 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 hitAttack.Ransomwith a strain known as SamSam . In March , the same strain attackedAttack.Ransomthe city of Atlanta 's IT network . Like other ransomware variants , SamSam will effectively lock down a computer , encrypting all the files inside , and then demandAttack.Ransomthe victim pay upAttack.Ransomto free the system . In the Atlanta attackAttack.Ransom, the anonymous hackers demandedAttack.Ransom$ 51,000 , which the city government reportedly refused to payAttack.Ransom. How much the hackers are demandingAttack.Ransomfrom LabCorp is n't clear ; the company declined to answer further questions about the attackAttack.Ransomor if it will pay the ransomAttack.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 stolenAttack.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 attackAttack.Ransomwas a ransomware strain . At this point , the company has found `` no evidence of theftAttack.Databreachor 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 .
Ransomware creators have attackedAttack.RansomMalaysian media giant Media Prima Bhd and are demandingAttack.Ransombitcoins before they can allow access to the company ’ s compromised computer systems . According to The Edge Markets , which initially broke the news , the hackers struck on November 8 consequently denying the company ’ s employees access to the email system . The hackers are now demandingAttack.Ransom1,000 bitcoins , translating to approximately US $ 6.3 million at current market prices , to reauthorize access . Media Prima did not , however , confirm the attackAttack.Ransomthough sources indicated that the publicly listed company would not be paying the ransomAttack.Ransom. Sources also told The Edge Markets that with access to the office email denied , the media giant had migrated to G Suite , a Google product hosted offsite . It was also not immediately clear whether the company which owns four TV stations , four radio stations and three national newspapers among other media assets had lodged a complaint with the police . Lucrative Business While extortionists have been targeting individuals in the recent past especially by threatening to reveal the porn-viewing habits of their victims , it has generally been more lucrative to target businesses . According to a report by cybersecurity firm Sophos , the SamSam ransomware , which has mostly targeted business enterprises and public bodies , has , for instance , generated its creators bitcoin worth more than US $ 6 million since it emerged three years ago . Some of the high-profile victims of ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomin the recent past have included the Port of San Diego . While the Californian port did not reveal the amount that the hackers demandedAttack.Ransom, it was serious enough that it got the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations , the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard involved . “ As previously stated , the investigation has detected that ransomware was used in this attack . The Port can also now confirm that the ransom note requested paymentAttack.Ransomin Bitcoin , although the amount that was requestedAttack.Ransomis not being disclosed , ” a statement from the Port of San Diego read , as CCN reported at the time . Can ’ t Pay , Won ’ t Pay Another high-profile target of ransomware in the recent past was the Professional Golfers Association ( PGA ) of America . In this case , the hackers encrypted critical files denying access to them just as the golfing body was holding a PGA Championship event as well as preparing for the Ryder Cup .
Two Iranian men already indicted in New Jersey in connection with a broad cybercrime and extortion scheme targeting government agencies , cities and businesses now face new federal charges in Georgia related to a ransomware attackAttack.Ransomthat caused havoc for the city of Atlanta earlier this year . A federal grand jury in Atlanta returned an indictment Tuesday accusing Faramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act , federal prosecutors said in a news release Wednesday . The New Jersey indictment against the pair was filed last month on broad conspiracy charges that included the Atlanta cyberattack . Byung “ BJay ” Pak , the U.S. attorney in Atlanta , said in a news release that the Atlanta indictment was sought in coordination with the earlier indictment and seeks to ensure that “ those responsible for the attacks face justice here as well. ” The Atlanta indictment accuses the two men of launching a ransomware attackAttack.Ransomagainst Atlanta that encrypted vital city computer systems . The attack significantly disrupted city operations and caused millions of dollars in losses , prosecutors said . The Department of Justice has said the two men remain fugitives and are believed to be in Iran , though they are not believed to be connected to the Iranian government . No attorney was listed for either man in online court records . In the Atlanta attackAttack.Ransom, a ransomware known as SamSam was used to infect about 3,789 computers belonging to the city , prosecutors said . The ransomware encrypted the files on the computers and showed a ransom note demanding paymentAttack.Ransomfor a decryption key . The note demandedAttack.Ransom0.8 bitcoin per affected computer or six bitcoin to decrypt all affected computers . Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in the days after the ransomware attackAttack.Ransomthat the ransom demandAttack.Ransomwas equivalent to $ 51,000 . The ransom note provided a bitcoin address to pay the ransomAttack.Ransomand a website accessible only on the dark web , where it said the city could retrieve the decryption key , prosecutors said . The decryption key became inaccessible shortly after the attack , and the city didn ’ t pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, prosecutors said . The New Jersey indictment filed Nov 27 accuses the two men of creating the SamSam ransomware and says it was used to encrypt the computers of more than 200 victims , including government agencies , cities and businesses . Among the other victims are the city of Newark , New Jersey , the Colorado Department of Transportation , the Port of San Diego and six health care companies across the U.S. , according to the Justice Department . The New Jersey charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers . The overall scheme allowed the hackers to make about $ 6 million and caused the victims to lose more than $ 30 million , prosecutors said .
E-Sports Entertainment Association ( ESEA ) , one of the largest competitive video gaming communities on the planet , was hacked last December . As a result , a database containing 1.5 million player profiles was compromised . On Sunday , ESEA posted a message to Twitter , reminding players of the warning issued on December 30 , 2016 , three days after they were informed of the hack . Sunday ’ s message said the leak of player informationAttack.Databreachwas expected , but they ’ ve not confirmed if the leaked recordsAttack.Databreachcame from their systems . Late Saturday evening , breach notification service LeakedSource announced the addition of 1,503,707 ESEA records to their database . When asked for additional information by Salted Hash , a LeakedSource spokesperson shared the database schema , as well as sample records pulled at random from the database . Learn about top security certifications : Who they 're for , what they cost , and which you need . However , in all , there are more than 90 fields associated with a given player record in the ESEA database . While the passwords are safe , the other data points in the leaked records could be used to construct a number of socially-based attacks , including PhishingAttack.Phishing. Players on Reddit have confirmed their information was discovered in the leaked data . A similar confirmation was made Twitch ’ s Jimmy Whisenhunt on Twitter . The LeakedSource spokesperson said that the ESEA hack was part of a ransom schemeAttack.Ransom, as the hacker responsible demandedAttack.Ransom$ 50,000 in paymentAttack.Ransom. In exchange for meeting their demands , the hacker would keep silent about the ESEA hack and help the organization address the security flaw that made it possible . In their previous notification , ESEA said they learned about the incidentAttack.Databreachon December 27 , but make no mention of any related extortion attemptsAttack.Ransom. The organization reset passwords , multi-factor authentication tokens , and security questions as part of their recovery efforts . We ’ ve reached out to confirm the extortion attemptAttack.Ransomclaims made by the hacker , as well as the total count for players affected by the data breachAttack.Databreach. In an emailed statement , a spokesperson for ESL Gaming ( parent company to Turtle Entertainment ) confirmed that the hacker did in fact attempt to extort moneyAttack.Ransom, but the sum demandedAttack.Ransomwas `` substantially higher '' than the $ 50,000 previously mentioned . The company refused to give into the extortion demandsAttack.Ransom, and went public with details before the hacker could publish anything . The statement also confirms the affected user count of 1.5 million , and stressed the point that ESEA passwords were hashed with bcrypt . When it comes to the profile fields , where more than 90 data points are listed , ESL Gaming says those are optional data points for profile settings . `` We take the security and integrity of customer details very seriously and we are doing everything in our power to investigate this incident , establish precisely what has been taken , and make changes to our systems to mitigate any further breaches . The authorities ( FBI ) were also informed and we will do everything possible to facilitate the investigation of this attack , '' the message from ESL Gaming concluded . `` Based on the proof provided to us by the threat actor of possessionAttack.Databreachof the stolen data , we were able to identify the scope of the data that was accessedAttack.Databreach. While the primary concern and focus was on personal data , some of ESEA ’ s internal infrastructure including configuration settings of game server hardware specifications , as well as game server IPs was also accessibleAttack.Databreach. Due to the ongoing investigation , we prioritized customer user data first , '' the statement explains . In the days that followed that initial contact , ESEA worked to secure their systems , and the hacker kept making demands . On January 7 , ESEA learned the hacker also exfiltratedAttack.Databreachintellectual property from the compromised servers
Ransomware scammers have been exploiting a flaw in Apple 's Mobile Safari browser in a campaign to extort feesAttack.Ransomfrom uninformed users . The scammers particularly target those who viewed porn or other controversial content . Apple patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe vulnerability on Monday with the releaseVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityof iOS version 10.3 . The flaw involved the way that Safari displayed JavaScript pop-up windows . In fact , recovering from the pop-up loop was as easy as going into the device settings and clearing the browser cache . This simple fix was possibly lost on some uninformed targets who were too uncomfortable to ask for outside help . `` The attackers effectively used fear as a factor to get what they wanted before the victim realized that there was little actual risk , '' Lookout researchers Andrew Blaich and Jeremy Richards wrote in Monday 's post . The user provided the screenshot shown above , which attempts to instill fear with the claim the device was being locked `` for illegal pornography . '' Below those words was a pop-up Window that said `` Can not Open Page . '' Each time the person clicked on the accompanying OK button , a new window would open again . The JavaScript used in the attack shows signs of being used to exploit the same Safari flaw present inVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityiOS version 8 , which was released in 2014 . The attackers , the Lookout researchers said , purchased a large number of domains in an attempt to `` catch users that are seeking controversial content on the internet and coerce them into paying a ransomAttack.Ransomto them . '' Sites tailored the messages they delivered based on country identifiers . The campaign in many respects resembles one that hitAttack.RansomAndroid users in 2014 . That one demandedAttack.Ransoma $ 300 ransom paidAttack.Ransomin the form of mechanisms such as Paysafecard or uKash
A hacker who claims to have stolenAttack.Databreachunreleased television shows from several major networks shared the coming season of the Netflix series “ Orange Is the New Black ” on Saturday after the person said the streaming service failed to meet its ransom requestsAttack.Ransom. The breach appears to have occurred at the postproduction company Larson Studios , a popular digital-mixing service in Los Angeles for television networks and movie studios . The hacker or hackers , who go by the name “ thedarkoverlord , ” also claim to have stolenAttack.Databreachunreleased content from ABC , Fox , National Geographic and IFC . The Federal Bureau of Investigation learned of the episode at Larson Studios in January but did not start notifying the content companies until a month ago . A message to Larson Studios was not immediately returned . On Twitter , thedarkoverlord suggested that other networks would have their shows released next . “ Oh , what fun we ’ re all going to have , ” the hacker said . “ We ’ re not playing any games anymore. ” Netflix had announced this year that Season 5 of “ Orange Is the New Black ” would be released June 9 , and it was not immediately clear whether it planned to move up the release date . In a statement , Netflix said : “ We are aware of the situation . A production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised and the appropriate law enforcement authorities are involved . ” This specific breachAttack.Databreachhighlights a risk posed by the weak security practices in the postproduction studios that manage the release of proprietary entertainment content . While companies like Netflix and Fox might invest in state-of-the-art cybersecurity defense technology , they must also rely on an ecosystem of postproduction vendors , ranging from mom-and-pop shops to more sophisticated outfits like Dolby and Technicolor , which may not deploy the same level of cybersecurity and threat intelligence . In a message posted Saturday , thedarkoverlord criticized Netflix for not meeting its blackmail requestsAttack.Ransom. “ It didn ’ t have to be this way , Netflix , ” the message said . “ You ’ re going to lose a lot more money in all of this than what our modest offer was. ” The statement continued : “ We ’ re quite ashamed to breathe the same air as you . We figured a pragmatic business such as yourselves would see and understand the benefits of cooperating with a reasonable and merciful entity like ourselves. ” The hacker threatened to release content from other studios on Saturday if its demandsAttack.Ransomwere not met . ABC , Fox and IFC declined to comment , and a message to National Geographic was not immediately returned . The alias thedarkoverlord has popped up in other recent attacks , including one last January on a small charity in Muncie , Ind. , the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana . In that case , the hackers wiped the organization ’ s servers and backup servers , and demandedAttack.Ransom50 bitcoins — valued at $ 43,000 — to restore the data . The organization did not payAttack.Ransom.
Cyber security researchers on Monday pointed to code in a "ransomware" attackAttack.Ransomthat could indicate a link to North Korea . Symantec and Kaspersky Lab each cited code that was previously used by a hacker collective known as the Lazarus Group , which was behind the high-profile 2014 hack of Sony that was also blamed on North Korea . But the security firms cautioned that it is too early to make any definitive conclusions , in part because the code could have been merely copied by someone else for use in the current event . The effects of the ransomware attackAttack.Ransomappeared to ease Monday , although thousands more computers , mostly in Asia , were hitAttack.Ransomas people signed in at work for the first time since the infections spread to 150 countries late last week . Health officials in Britain , where surgeries and doctors ' appointments in its national health care system had been severely impacted Friday , were still having problems Monday . But health minister Jeremy Hunt said it was `` encouraging '' that a second wave of attacks had not materialized . He said `` the level of criminal activity is at the lower end of the range that we had anticipated . '' In the United States , Tom Bossert , a homeland security adviser to President Donald Trump , told the ABC television network the global cybersecurity attack is something that `` for right now , we 've got under control . '' He told reporters at the White House that `` less than $ 70,000 '' has been paid as ransomAttack.Ransomto those carrying out the attacks . He urged all computer users to make sure they installVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysoftware patches to protect themselves against further cyberattacks . In the television interview , Bossert described the malware that paralyzed 200,000 computers running factories , banks , government agencies , hospitals and transportation systems across the globe as an `` extremely serious threat . '' Cybersecurity experts say the hackers behind the `` WannaCry '' ransomware , who demandedAttack.Ransom$ 300 paymentsAttack.Ransomto decrypt files locked by the malware , used a vulnerability that came from U.S. government documents leaked online . The attacks exploitedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityknown vulnerabilities in older Microsoft computer operating systems . During the weekend , Microsoft president Brad Smith said the clandestine U.S. National Security Agency had developed the code used in the attack . Bossert said `` criminals , '' not the U.S. government , are responsible for the attacks . Like Bossert , experts believe Microsoft 's security patch releasedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityin March should protect networks if companies and individual users install it . Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country had nothing to do with the attack and cited the Microsoft statement blaming the NSA for causing the worldwide cyberattack . `` A genie let out of a bottle of this kind , especially created by secret services , can then cause damage to its authors and creators , '' Putin said while attending an international summit in Beijing . He said that while there was `` no significant damage '' to Russian institutions from the cyberattack , the incident was `` worrisome . '' `` There is nothing good in this and calls for concern , '' he said . Even though there appeared to be a diminished number of attacks Monday , computer outages still affected segments of life across the globe , especially in Asia , where Friday 's attacks occurred after business hours . China China said 29,000 institutions had been affected , along with hundreds of thousands of devices . Japan 's computer emergency response team said 2,000 computers at 600 locations were affected there . Universities and other educational institutions appeared to be the hardest hit in China . China 's Xinhua News Agency said railway stations , mail delivery , gas stations , hospitals , office buildings , shopping malls and government services also were affected . Elsewhere , Britain said seven of the 47 trusts that run its national health care system were still affected , with some surgeries and outpatient appointments canceled as a result . In France , auto manufacturer Renault said one of its plants that employs 3,500 workers stayed shut Monday as technicians dealt with the aftermath of the Friday attacks . Security patches Computer security experts have assured individual computer users who have kept their operating systems updated that they are relatively safe , but urged companies and governments to make sure they applyVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitysecurity patches or upgradeVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityto newer systems . They advised those whose networks have been effectively shut down by the ransomware attackAttack.Ransomnot to make the payment demandedAttack.Ransom, the equivalent of $ 300 , paidAttack.Ransomin the digital currency bitcoin . However , the authors of the "WannaCry" ransomware attackAttack.Ransomtold their victims the amount they must payAttack.Ransomwill double if they do not comply within three days of the original infection , by Monday in most cases . The hackers warned that they will delete all files on infected systems if no paymentAttack.Ransomis received within seven days .
Hackers that tried to extort moneyAttack.Ransomfrom Disney by threatening to make public an upcoming movie ahead of its release date appear to have been bluffing , the firm ’ s boss has revealed . Chairman and CEO Bob Iger said the media giant had , to its knowledge , not been hacked . “ We had a threat of a hackAttack.Databreachof a movie being stolenAttack.Databreach. We decided to take it seriously but not react in the manner in which the person who was threatening us had required , ” he told Yahoo Finance . “ We don ’ t believe that it was real and nothing has happened. ” The hackers apparently demandedAttack.Ransoma large paymentAttack.Ransomin Bitcoin , and threatened to release five minutes of the stolen film followed by subsequent 20-minute instalments if their demandsAttack.Ransomweren ’ t met . Disney likely took the threat seriously given that a similar incident occurred last month when a hacker uploaded the upcoming series of Netflix prison drama Orange is the New Black to The Pirate Bay after the streaming giant refused to pay a ransomAttack.Ransom. In that case , a third-party production vendor used by the studios was to blame , after its security was compromised by the hacker . Iger acknowledged the elevation of cybersecurity to a “ front burner issue. ” “ Technology is an enabler to run our businesses more securely , whether that ’ s protecting our intellectual property or protecting our guests or employees around the world , ” he argued . Unfortunately , many boardrooms don ’ t share Iger ’ s enthusiasm for cybersecurity-related issues . Just 5 % of FTSE 100 companies claim to have a technology expert on the board , despite most of them ( 87 % ) identifying cybersecurity as a major risk to the firm , according to a recent Deloitte report . Yet cybersecurity is something the C-level need to get urgently up to speed with , as increasing numbers are targeted by whalers . Just this month , Barclays CEO Jes Staley was trickedAttack.Phishinginto emailing someone pretending to beAttack.Phishingthe bank ’ s chairman , John McFarlane .
The executive director of the organization revealed on Tuesday that their computer systems have been infected with a ransomware by cyber criminals who happen to be “ an international cyber terrorist organization ” . Aimee Fant , the Executive Director of Little Red Door , officially revealed its involvement in the agency ’ s computer system hack in a press release . According to their Facebook post , the attack occurred last week on Wednesday night when the hackers attacked the terminal service and backup driver of Cancer Services ’ computer systems . They managed to access , hack and encrypt the data . After carrying out the hack attack , the notorious gang of cyber criminals demandedAttack.Ransom$ 43,000 ransomAttack.Ransomon Thursday . The press release also revealed that the perpetrators of the crime were gearing up to threaten the family members of living or deceased “ cancer clients , donors and community partners ” . She further informed that the FBI has been contacted to conduct an “ active investigation ” . It is worth noting that a majority of the agency ’ s data is stored in cloud storage . Perhaps , this is why the organization is not willing to pay the ransomAttack.Ransomand believes that “ all funds raised must go to serving families , all stage cancer patients , late stage care/hospice support and preventative screenings , ” instead of cyber criminals .
A group of financially motivated hackers is targeting networks and systems of North American companies , threatening to leak the stolen information and cripple the company by disrupting their networks if they don ’ t pay a hefty ransomAttack.Ransom. The group , dubbed FIN10 by FireEye researchers , first gets access to the target companies ’ systems through spear-phishingAttack.Phishing( and possibly other means ) , then uses publicly available software , scripts and techniques to gain a foothold into victims ’ networks . They use Meterpreter or the SplinterRAT to establish the initial foothold within victim environments ( and later a permanent backdoor ) , then custom PowerShell-based utilities , the pen-testing tool PowerShell Empire , and scheduled tasks to achieve persistence . “ We have also observed FIN10 using PowerShell to load Metasploit Meterpreter stagers into memory , ” the researchers noted . The group leverages Windows Remote Desktop Protocol ( RDP ) and single-factor protected VPN to access various systems within the environment . Finally , they deploy destructive batch scripts intended to delete critical system files and shutdown network systems , in order to disrupt the normal operations of those systems . “ In all but one targeted intrusion we have attributed to FIN10 , the attacker ( s ) demandedAttack.Ransoma variable sum payable in Bitcoin for the non-release of sensitive data obtained during network reconnaissance stages , ” the researchers say . They requested sum varies between 100 to 500 Bitcoin . If the ransom isn’t paidAttack.Ransom, they publish the stolen data on Pastebin-type sites . The researchers do not mention if any of the companies refused to payAttack.Ransomand ended up having their systems and networks disrupted . For the time being , the group seems to have concentrated on hitting companies in North America , predominately in Canada . They ’ ve also concentrated on two types of businesses : mining companies and casinos . Still , it ’ s possible that they ’ ve targeted companies in other industries , or will do so in the future . FIN10 sends the extortion emails to staff and board members of the victim organizations , and are also known to contact bloggers and local journalists to inform them about the breach , likely in an attempt to pressure affected organizations into paying the ransomAttack.Ransom. Finally , even though they sign their emails with monikers used by Russian and Serbian hackers ( “ Angels_Of_Truth , ” “ Tesla Team , ” Anonymous Threat Agent ” ) , the quality of the group ’ s English , the low quality of their Russian , and inconsistencies in tradecraft all point away from these particular individuals or groups . “ Emphasis in regional targeting of North American-based organizations could possibly suggest the attacker ( s ) familiarity with the region , ” the researchers noted . They also point out that the “ relative degree of operational success enjoyed by FIN10 makes it highly probable the group will continue to conduct similar extortionAttack.Ransom- based campaigns at least in the near term. ” Companies that have been received a similar ransom demandAttack.Ransomare advised to move fast to confirm that the breach has actually happened , to determine the scope of the breach , to contain the attack , to boot the attackers from their networks , and make sure they can ’ t come back . Those last two steps are , perhaps , better done after the company definitely decides that they are ready to deal with the consequences of the attackers ’ anger . Calling in law enforcement and legal counsel for advice on what to do is also a good idea . “ Understand that paying the ransomAttack.Ransommay be the right option , but there are no guarantees the attacker ( s ) won ’ t come back for more money or simply leak the data anyway . Include experts in the decision-making process and understand the risks associated with all options , ” the researchers advise . Companies that have yet to be targeted by these or other hackers would do well to improve their security posture , but also to prepare for data breachesAttack.Databreachby tightening access to their backup environment , and knowing exactly who will be called in to help in case of a breachAttack.Databreach.
Hackers are reportedly sellingAttack.Databreachstolen data from the Qatar National Bank ( QNB ) and UAE InvestBank on the dark web . Both the banks suffered major data breachesAttack.Databreachin 2016 and the data of thousands of customers was later leakedAttack.Databreachonline by hackers . Now , even as tensions escalate between the two Middle Eastern nations , cybercriminals appear to be cashing in on the underground cybercrime community . Hackers hitAttack.Databreachthe QNB in April 2016 and the UAE InvestBank in May 2016 . The Sharjah-based InvestBank 's stolen data was leakedAttack.Databreachonline by a hacker going by the pseudonym `` Buba '' , who demandedAttack.Ransoma $ 3m ransomAttack.Ransomfrom the bank . The stolen data , including customers ' financial details as well as personal details such as full names , addresses , passport numbers , phone numbers , account numbers , credit card numbers along with their CVV codes and more was leakedAttack.Databreachonline by the hacker after the bank refused to pay up the ransomAttack.Ransom. In the case of the QNB , a hacker group going by the pseudonym `` Bozkurt Hackers '' claimed responsibility for the data breachAttack.Databreach. Hackers leakedAttack.Databreach1.4GB data , which included customers ' financial records , credit card numbers and PIN codes as well as banking details pertaining to the Al-Thani Qatar Royal Family and Al Jazeera journalists . The stolen data from the QNB hackAttack.Databreachas well as the InvestBank data breachAttack.Databreachis now up for sale on an unspecified yet popular dark web marketplace , HackRead reported . This has not been independently verified by IBTimes UK . InvestBank 's data is allegedly being sold for a mere 0.0071 bitcoins ( $ 18.86 , £14.91 ) . The data on sale includes bank accounts , card details , customer IDs , branch codes as well as account holders ' full names . The stolen and leaked data from the QNB , which the bank later acknowledged may have been accurate , is also on sale for 0.0071 bitcoins . The data listed for sale includes the previously leaked QNB records such as bank accounts as well as card and personal details of customers . Dark web data sales from major breachesAttack.Databreachare not uncommon . In 2016 , a series of major breachesAttack.Databreachaffecting several leading tech firms including LinkedIn and Dropbox , eventually saw hackers sellingAttack.Databreachhacked and stolen databases on the dark web .
Check Point ’ s mobile security researchers have discovered a new ransomware in Google Play , dubbed Charger . Charger was found embedded in an app called EnergyRescue . The infected app stealsAttack.Databreachcontacts and SMS messages from the user ’ s device and asks for admin permissions . If granted , the ransomware locks the device and displaysAttack.Ransoma message demanding paymentAttack.Ransom. Researchers detected and quarantined the Android device of an unsuspecting customer employee who had unknowingly downloaded and installed Charger . The early detection enabled them to quickly disclose the findings to Android ’ s Security team that added the malware to Android ’ s built-in protection mechanisms before it began to spread , ensuring only a handful of devices were infected . Unlike most malware found on Google Play , that contains a dropper that later downloads the real malicious components to the device , Charger uses a heavy packing approach . This makes it harder for the malware to stay hidden . Charger ’ s developers compensated for this using a variety of techniques to boost its evasion capabilities so it could stay hidden on Google Play for as long as possible . These included : The ransom demandAttack.Ransomis for 0.2 Bitcoins or roughly $ 180 and is much higher than what has been seen in previous mobile ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom. By comparison , the DataLust ransomware demandedAttack.Ransommerely $ 15 and could be an indicator of a wider effort by mobile malware developers to catch up with their PC ransomware cousins . Similar to other malware seen in the past , Charger checks the local settings of the device and does not run its malicious logic if the device is located in Ukraine , Russia , or Belarus . This is likely done to keep the developers from being prosecuted in their own countries or being extradited between countries
Researchers say a piece of ransomware disguised asAttack.Phishinga battery app made its way into the Play store . Check Point says one of its customers contracted the malware app , dubbed `` Charger , '' after installing what they thought was a battery monitoring tool called EnergyRescue . Researchers with Check Point Mobile Threat Prevention say the malware activates when EnergyRescue runs , and requires admin access to the device . Once that permission is granted , the malware checks for location ( it does not attack phones in the Ukraine , Belarus , or Russia ) , then swipesAttack.Databreachall user contacts and SMS messages and locks down the device . From there , the user is told that they must pay to deactivateAttack.Ransomthe ransomware or they will have their full details spaffed out for various nefarious activities , including bank fraud and spam . `` You need to payAttack.Ransomfor us , otherwise we will sell portion of your personal information on black market every 30 minutes , '' the ransomware tells users . Not ones to be unprofessional , the Charger operators attempt to reassure their victims by offering a `` 100 % guarantee '' that once the 0.2 Bitcoin ransomAttack.Ransom( currently around $ 183 ) is paidAttack.Ransom, all the collected information will be deleted and the device unlocked. `` The ransom demandAttack.Ransomfor 0.2 Bitcoins is a much higher ransom demandAttack.Ransomthan has been seen in mobile ransomware so far , '' note Check Point mobile security analysts Oren Koriat and Andrey Polkovnichenko . `` By comparison , the DataLust ransomware demandedAttack.Ransommerely $ 15 . '' Check Point says that thus far it has not spotted any payments being registered to the Bitcoin address used for the ransom collectionAttack.Ransom, so it is unclear how much , if anything , has been made from this operation .
What does David Beckham have in common with Sony and the Democratic National Committee ? Hacked emails that are apparently reputation-shredding – plus enough media attention paid to the details of the leaked content to overshadow the actual crime . The Daily Mail reports that police in Portugal have launched an investigation into an attack on the servers at Beckham ’ s PR firm , Doyen Global , which is run by his friend Simon Oliveira . The police have reportedly been investigating the attack for the past 12 months . According to the Telegraph , the hackers had allegedly demandedAttack.Ransom€1m ( $ 1.07m ) in exchange for destroying a dossier of some 18.6m emails and documents , which the ever-colorful British press have dubbed “ Beckileaks ” . A source told the Telegraph that the blackmailer ( s ) first made the pitch by email , using the fake name of Artem Lovuzov . “ Lovuzov ” allegedly told Doyen Sports chief executive Neilo Lucas that paying the moneyAttack.Ransomwould ensure that no embarrassing messages were given to the press : A generous donation , and you can be sure that all the information I possess will be destroyed . The Beckham team didn ’ t respond , so the blackmailer set a deadline : I ’ m giving you until 16.00 on Tuesday to contact my lawyer with a view to a proper resolution to this impasse . Beckham and his team didn ’ t want to play the game . The hacker ( s ) didn ’ t stop at Team Beckham , though : they ’ ve reportedly targeted a number of businesses connected to the football world . It was then published by sites including Der Spiegel , L ’ Equipe and El Mundo . Former UK football star Beckham – a mega-celebrity who ’ s gone on to use his considerable clout to raise big sums of money for Unicef – has been faced with the publication of expletive-laced emails that make it look like he ’ s used the charity as a front to buff up his chances of knighthood . A spokesman for Beckham told the BBC that the alleged emails were “ hacked ” , “ doctored ” and “ private ” from a third-party server .
The malware asks forAttack.Ransom222 Bitcoin but will not honor promises to decrypt files after payment is madeAttack.Ransom. The cost of ransomware reached close to $ 1 billion in 2016 , and it 's not hard to see why . The malware family , which targets everything from Windows to Mac machines , executes procedures to encrypt files and disks before demanding a ransom paymentAttack.Ransomin return for keys to decrypt and unlock compromised machines . However , it is not only the general public which is being targeted with everything from hospitals to schools and businesses now in the firing line . As the prospect of losing valuable content on computer systems or facing widespread disruption to business operations is often too much to bear , many will simply give up and give in , paying the fee and unfortunately contributing to the cybercriminal 's operations . However , paying upAttack.Ransomdoes not guarantee that victims will get their files back , no matter how low or high the payment demandAttack.Ransom. This week , ESET researchers discovered that a Linux variant of KillDisk , linked to attacks against core infrastructure system in Ukraine in 2015 , is now being used against fresh Ukrainian financial targets . The ransomware demandsAttack.Ransoma huge amount of money , but there is no underwritten protocol for decryption keys to be released once payment is madeAttack.Ransom. Distributed through phishing campaignsAttack.Phishingtargeting both Windows and Linux , once downloaded , the ransomware throws up a holding page referring to the Mr . Robot television show while files are being encrypted , the research team said in a blog post . Unsurprisingly , no-one has paid up yet , nor should they , ever . `` This new variant renders Linux machines unbootable , after encrypting files and requesting a large ransomAttack.Ransom, '' ESET says . `` But even if victims do reach deep into their pockets , the probability that the attackers will decrypt the files is small . '' Files are encrypted using Triple-DES applied to 4096-byte file blocks and each file is encrypted using different sets of 64-bit encryption keys . However , the ransomware does not store encryption keys either locally or through a command-and-control ( C & C ) server , which means that affected systems after reboot are unbootable , and paying the ransomAttack.Ransomis pointless . `` It is important to note -- that paying the ransom demandedAttack.Ransomfor the recovery of encrypted files is a waste of time and money , '' the team said . `` Let us emphasize that -- the cyber criminals behind this KillDisk variant can not supply their victims with the decryption keys to recover their files , despite those victims payingAttack.Ransomthe extremely large sum demandedAttack.Ransomby this ransomware . '' There is a weakness in the encryption used by the ransomware , which makes recovery possible -- at least when it comes to Linux infections . Earlier this week , researchers at Check Point revealed the latest exploits of the GoldenEye ransomware , a strain of malware which is targeting German HR companies . The malware is contained in phishing emails which appear to be from job applicants , and once downloaded and installed , demandsAttack.Ransom$ 1000 in Bitcoin to unlock infected systems
KillDisk was one of the components associated with the Black Energy malware that a group of attackers used in December 2015 to hit several Ukrainian power stations , cutting power for thousands of people . A month before that , it was used against a major news agency in Ukraine . Since then , KillDisk has been used in other attacks , most recently against several targets from the shipping sector , according to security researchers from antivirus vendor ESET . However , the latest versions have evolved and now act like ransomware . Instead of wiping the data from the disk , the malware encrypts it and displays a message asking forAttack.Ransom222 bitcoins to restore them . That 's the equivalent of $ 216,000 , an unusually large sum of money for a ransomware attackAttack.Ransom. What 's even more interesting is that there 's also a Linux variant of KillDisk that can infect both desktop and server systems , the ESET researchers said Thursday in blog post . The encryption routine and algorithms are different between the Windows and the Linux versions , and on Linux , there 's another catch : The encryption keys are neither saved locally nor sent to a command-and-control server , and the attackers ca n't actually get to them . `` The cyber criminals behind this KillDisk variant can not supply their victims with the decryption keys to recover their files , despite those victims payingAttack.Ransomthe extremely large sum demandedAttack.Ransomby this ransomware , '' the ESET researchers said . The good news is that there 's a weakness in the encryption mechanism for the Linux version that makes it possible -- though difficult -- for the victim to recover the files . It 's not clear why the KillDisk creators have added this encryption feature . It could be that they 're achieving the same goal as in the past -- destruction of data -- but with the ransomware tactic there 's also a small chance that they 'll walk away with a large sum of money