, cyber fraudsters encrypted data belonging to a Dadar-based chartered accountant and demanded moneyAttack.Ransomto remove the block on the data on Monday . While the incidentAttack.Ransomtook place on Monday , the complainant , realised that his data has been blocked on Tuesday . “ A case of ransomware was reported , following which , an FIR has been registered at the Bhoiwada police station , ” said Deputy Commissioner of Police ( Zone 4 ) N Ambika . While the FIR was lodged on Thursday , no arrest has been made in the case yet . Police said the incidentAttack.Ransomtook place on Monday at the complainant ’ s office near Framroz court in Dadar . Around 2.15 pm , a message flashed on the complainant ’ s computer screen saying , “ You have to payAttack.Ransomfor decryption in bitcoins . The price depends on how fast you write to us . After payment , we will send you the decryption key , which will decrypt all your files. ” The message also had an email address , on which he was to write to the fraudsters . Around 7 pm , when the complainant tried to use a computer for some work , he could not access the data . When he tried other computers , he faced the same problem . He also found that some data and software had been deleted . Suspecting that a computer virus may be behind this , he copied the other files still available from the computer . The complainant then left for the day and asked an employee from the information technology department to look into the matter . The employee later told him that the data had not been deleted but encrypted by fraudsters . On Sunday , the MGM hospital in Navi Mumbai was attackedAttack.Ransomby a ransomware . Its data was locked out and the fraudsters demanded paymentAttack.Ransomin bitcoins .
GREENFIELD — Hancock Health paidAttack.Ransoma $ 55,000 ransomAttack.Ransomto hackers to regain access to its computer systems , hospital officials said . Part of the health network had been held hostageAttack.Ransomsince late Thursday , when ransomware locked files including patient medical records . The hackers targeted more than 1,400 files , the names of every one temporarily changed to “ I ’ m sorry. ” They gave the hospital seven days to payAttack.Ransomor the files would be permanently encrypted , officials said . An analysis since the attack confirmed no personal patient information was takenAttack.Databreachby the hackers , believed to be located in eastern Europe , said Hancock Health CEO Steve Long . The affected files were backed up and could have been recovered , but restoring them would take days — maybe even weeks — and would be costly , Long said . From a business standpoint , paying a small ransomAttack.Ransommade more sense , he said . The hacker asked forAttack.Ransomfour bitcoins — a virtual currency used to make anonymous transactions that are nearly impossible to trace . At the time of the transfer , those four bitcoins were valued at about $ 55,000 .
PGA of America computers were infected this week with a strain of malicious software that locked down critical files and demandedAttack.Ransomcryptocurrency 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.
After the ransackingAttack.Databreachof MongoDB , ElasticSearch , Hadoop , CouchDB , and Cassandra servers , attackers are now hijacking hundreds of MySQL databases , deleting their content , and leaving a ransom note behind asking forAttack.Ransoma 0.2 Bitcoin ( $ 235 ) paymentAttack.Ransom. According to breach detection firm GuardiCore , the attacks are happening via brute-force attacks on Internet-exposed MySQL servers , and there 's plenty of those laying around since MySQL is one of today 's most popular database systems . All attacks came from a server in the Netherlands Based on currently available evidence , the attacks started on February 12 , and only lasted for 30 hours , during which time attackers attempted to brute-force their way into MySQL root accounts . Investigators said all attacks came from the same IP address from the Netherlands , 109.236.88.20 , belonging to a hosting company called WorldStream . During their ransackingAttack.Databreach, attackers did n't behave in a constant pattern , making it hard to attribute the hacks to one group , despite the usage of the same IP . For example , after gaining access to MySQL servers , attackers created a new database called PLEASE_READ and left a table inside it called WARNING that contained their ransom demandsAttack.Ransom. In some cases , attackers only created the WARNING table and left it inside an already existing database , without creating a new one . Investigators report that attackers would then dump the database 's content and delete it afterward , leaving only the one holding their ransomAttack.Ransom. In some cases , attackers deleted the databases without dumping any data . Attackers have their own website Two ransom notes have been found in the hundreds of confirmed attacksAttack.Ransom, one askingAttack.Ransomvictims to get in contact via email and confirm the payment , while the other used a completely different mode of operation , redirecting users to a Tor-hosted website . The two Bitcoin addresses listed in the ransom notes received four and six paymentsAttack.Ransom, respectively , albeit GuardiCore experts doubt that all are from victims . `` We can not tell whether it was the attackers who made the transactions to make their victims feel more confident about payingAttack.Ransom, '' they said . Be sure the attacker still has your data Just like in the case of the now infamous MongoDB attacksAttack.Ransomthat have hitAttack.Ransomover 41,000 servers , it 's recommended that victims check logs before deciding to payAttack.Ransomand see if the attackers actually took their data . If companies elect to pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, should always ask the attacker for proof they still have their data . None of this would be an issue if IT teams follow standard security practices that involve using an automated server backup system and deleting the MySQL root account or at least using a strong and hard-to-brute-force password . This is not the first time MySQL servers have been held for ransomAttack.Ransom. The same thing happened in 2015 , in a series of attacksAttack.Ransomcalled RansomWebAttack.Ransom, where attackers used unpatched phpBB forums to hijack databases and hold websites up for ransomAttack.Ransom.
One week ago a global cyberattackAttack.Ransomdubbed “ unprecedented ” by Europol began infecting an estimated 200,000 of the world ’ s computers , starting a seven-day countdown to the destruction of data if victims did not pay a ransomAttack.Ransom. On Friday , those countdowns begin reaching zero . But as of lunchtime the attackers had claimed only about $ 92,000 ( €82,183 ) in paymentsAttack.Ransomfrom their widespread ransom demandsAttack.Ransom, according to Elliptic Enterprises Ltd , a UK-based company that tracks illicit use of bitcoin . The company calculates the total based on payments tracked to bitcoin addresses specified in the ransom demandsAttack.Ransom. The ransomware , called WannaCry , began infecting users on May 12th and gave them 72 hours to payAttack.Ransom$ 300 in bitcoin or payAttack.Ransomtwice as much . Refusal to payAttack.Ransomafter seven days was promised to result in the permanent loss of data via irrevocable encryption . With affected institutions including the Health Service Executive ( which said it prevented the ransomware from activating ) , the National Health Service in the UK , FedEx and PetroChina , few initially paid upAttack.Ransom, leading to speculation that organisations were taking their chances on fixing their corrupt machines before the ransomAttack.Ransomforced a mass deletion of critical data . A week later , experts agree the financial gains of the hackers remain astonishingly low . “ With over 200,000 machines affected , the figure is lower than expected , ” said Jamie Akhtar , co-founder of the London-based security software firm CyberSmart . “ If even 1 per cent paid the ransomAttack.Ransomthat would be $ 600k. ” Mr Akhtar said experts may never know how much larger this figure would have been if a so-called kill switch had not been accidentally triggered by a cyber security researcher , who registered an internet domain that acted as a disabling tool for the worm ’ s propagation . While the world ’ s law enforcement is pointing its resources at trying to identify the culprits , Tom Robinson , chief operating officer and co-founder of Elliptic Enterprises , says it ’ s unlikely the money taken from victims will be taken from the digital bitcoin wallets they ’ re being anonymously held in . “ Given the amount of scrutiny this has come under , I would be surprised if they moved it anytime soon , ” he said . “ I just don ’ t think the risk is worth the $ 90,000 they ’ ve raised so far. ” Mr Akhtar agrees but doesn ’ t think the criminals have given up hope while machines infected later still have time ticking on their ransomAttack.Ransomcountdown . “ It seems like they are still actively trying to bring funds in , ” he said , noting a Twitter post from Symantec on Thursday , which seemed to show fresh messaging from the attackers promising to hold their end of the decryption bargain if victims paid upAttack.Ransom. Mr Akhtar believes the best thing the perpetrators can do to hide from authorities is “ destroy any evidence and abandon the bitcoin wallets ” . Of course , the hack may have nothing to do with money at all . Any movement of funds from a bitcoin wallet would act as a valuable clue for law enforcement as to who is behind the attack . Preliminary finger-pointing has already targeted groups with suspected links to the North Korean regime , but clues are still few are far between . – ( Bloomberg )
One week ago a global cyberattackAttack.Ransomdubbed “ unprecedented ” by Europol began infecting an estimated 200,000 of the world ’ s computers , starting a seven-day countdown to the destruction of data if victims did not pay a ransomAttack.Ransom. On Friday , those countdowns begin reaching zero . But as of lunchtime the attackers had claimed only about $ 92,000 ( €82,183 ) in paymentsAttack.Ransomfrom their widespread ransom demandsAttack.Ransom, according to Elliptic Enterprises Ltd , a UK-based company that tracks illicit use of bitcoin . The company calculates the total based on payments tracked to bitcoin addresses specified in the ransom demandsAttack.Ransom. The ransomware , called WannaCry , began infecting users on May 12th and gave them 72 hours to payAttack.Ransom$ 300 in bitcoin or payAttack.Ransomtwice as much . Refusal to payAttack.Ransomafter seven days was promised to result in the permanent loss of data via irrevocable encryption . With affected institutions including the Health Service Executive ( which said it prevented the ransomware from activating ) , the National Health Service in the UK , FedEx and PetroChina , few initially paid upAttack.Ransom, leading to speculation that organisations were taking their chances on fixing their corrupt machines before the ransomAttack.Ransomforced a mass deletion of critical data . A week later , experts agree the financial gains of the hackers remain astonishingly low . “ With over 200,000 machines affected , the figure is lower than expected , ” said Jamie Akhtar , co-founder of the London-based security software firm CyberSmart . “ If even 1 per cent paid the ransomAttack.Ransomthat would be $ 600k. ” Mr Akhtar said experts may never know how much larger this figure would have been if a so-called kill switch had not been accidentally triggered by a cyber security researcher , who registered an internet domain that acted as a disabling tool for the worm ’ s propagation . While the world ’ s law enforcement is pointing its resources at trying to identify the culprits , Tom Robinson , chief operating officer and co-founder of Elliptic Enterprises , says it ’ s unlikely the money taken from victims will be taken from the digital bitcoin wallets they ’ re being anonymously held in . “ Given the amount of scrutiny this has come under , I would be surprised if they moved it anytime soon , ” he said . “ I just don ’ t think the risk is worth the $ 90,000 they ’ ve raised so far. ” Mr Akhtar agrees but doesn ’ t think the criminals have given up hope while machines infected later still have time ticking on their ransomAttack.Ransomcountdown . “ It seems like they are still actively trying to bring funds in , ” he said , noting a Twitter post from Symantec on Thursday , which seemed to show fresh messaging from the attackers promising to hold their end of the decryption bargain if victims paid upAttack.Ransom. Mr Akhtar believes the best thing the perpetrators can do to hide from authorities is “ destroy any evidence and abandon the bitcoin wallets ” . Of course , the hack may have nothing to do with money at all . Any movement of funds from a bitcoin wallet would act as a valuable clue for law enforcement as to who is behind the attack . Preliminary finger-pointing has already targeted groups with suspected links to the North Korean regime , but clues are still few are far between . – ( Bloomberg )
One week ago a global cyberattackAttack.Ransomdubbed “ unprecedented ” by Europol began infecting an estimated 200,000 of the world ’ s computers , starting a seven-day countdown to the destruction of data if victims did not pay a ransomAttack.Ransom. On Friday , those countdowns begin reaching zero . But as of lunchtime the attackers had claimed only about $ 92,000 ( €82,183 ) in paymentsAttack.Ransomfrom their widespread ransom demandsAttack.Ransom, according to Elliptic Enterprises Ltd , a UK-based company that tracks illicit use of bitcoin . The company calculates the total based on payments tracked to bitcoin addresses specified in the ransom demandsAttack.Ransom. The ransomware , called WannaCry , began infecting users on May 12th and gave them 72 hours to payAttack.Ransom$ 300 in bitcoin or payAttack.Ransomtwice as much . Refusal to payAttack.Ransomafter seven days was promised to result in the permanent loss of data via irrevocable encryption . With affected institutions including the Health Service Executive ( which said it prevented the ransomware from activating ) , the National Health Service in the UK , FedEx and PetroChina , few initially paid upAttack.Ransom, leading to speculation that organisations were taking their chances on fixing their corrupt machines before the ransomAttack.Ransomforced a mass deletion of critical data . A week later , experts agree the financial gains of the hackers remain astonishingly low . “ With over 200,000 machines affected , the figure is lower than expected , ” said Jamie Akhtar , co-founder of the London-based security software firm CyberSmart . “ If even 1 per cent paid the ransomAttack.Ransomthat would be $ 600k. ” Mr Akhtar said experts may never know how much larger this figure would have been if a so-called kill switch had not been accidentally triggered by a cyber security researcher , who registered an internet domain that acted as a disabling tool for the worm ’ s propagation . While the world ’ s law enforcement is pointing its resources at trying to identify the culprits , Tom Robinson , chief operating officer and co-founder of Elliptic Enterprises , says it ’ s unlikely the money taken from victims will be taken from the digital bitcoin wallets they ’ re being anonymously held in . “ Given the amount of scrutiny this has come under , I would be surprised if they moved it anytime soon , ” he said . “ I just don ’ t think the risk is worth the $ 90,000 they ’ ve raised so far. ” Mr Akhtar agrees but doesn ’ t think the criminals have given up hope while machines infected later still have time ticking on their ransomAttack.Ransomcountdown . “ It seems like they are still actively trying to bring funds in , ” he said , noting a Twitter post from Symantec on Thursday , which seemed to show fresh messaging from the attackers promising to hold their end of the decryption bargain if victims paid upAttack.Ransom. Mr Akhtar believes the best thing the perpetrators can do to hide from authorities is “ destroy any evidence and abandon the bitcoin wallets ” . Of course , the hack may have nothing to do with money at all . Any movement of funds from a bitcoin wallet would act as a valuable clue for law enforcement as to who is behind the attack . Preliminary finger-pointing has already targeted groups with suspected links to the North Korean regime , but clues are still few are far between . – ( Bloomberg )
The average ransomware attackAttack.Ransomyielded $ 1,077 last year , new research shows , representing a 266 percent spike from a year earlier . The reason for the landmark year for hackers ? Many ransomware victims readily payAttack.Ransomthe price . The number of attacks , varieties of distinct malware and money lost ballooned as ransomware became one of the top tactics of attackers , according to new research from the security firm Symantec . Some of the most high-profile ransomware incidentsAttack.Ransomof the last year include San Francisco ’ s Muni getting hitAttack.Ransom, Washington D.C. ’ s police department being breachedAttack.Databreachjust before inauguration and a Los Angeles college payingAttack.Ransoma $ 28,000 ransomAttack.Ransom. Hoping to turn the tide against the billion-dollar ransomware industry , last year the FBI urged businesses to alert authorities and not pay upAttack.Ransom. Instead , most keep attacksAttack.Ransoma secret , paying offAttack.Ransomhackers 70 percent of the time . That behavior only increases the sweet spot for demandsAttack.Ransom, as criminals seek the highest possible ransomAttack.Ransomwhile trying to avoid the attention of law enforcement . Economists say hackers who apply more sophisticated pricing techniques “ could lead to dramatic increases in profits at relatively little costs . ” The highest demandAttack.Ransomseen in public during the last was $ 28,730 from MIRCOP ransomware . It ’ s not clear if anyone actually paid offAttack.Ransomthose specific hackers . In private , however , higher ransomsAttack.Ransomare finding success when hackers successfully target the right companies . An IBM Security study from December 2016 found that over half of the businesses they surveyed said they had already paidAttack.Ransomover $ 10,000 in ransomAttack.Ransomwhile 20 percent said they ’ d paidAttack.Ransomover $ 40,000 . Globally , 34 percent of victims end up paying ransomAttack.Ransom. American victims , however , pay at a rate of 64 percent , according to Norton . “ That ’ s a phenomenal number , ” Symantec ’ s Kevin Haley told CyberScoop . “ I always compare it to direct mail where if you get a 1 percent rate you ’ re doing really good . These guys get a 34 percent return rate . Extortion really paysAttack.Ransom. ” The twist of the knife comes when only 47 percent of victims who pay the ransomAttack.Ransomactually recover any files . “ If so many people are willing to pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, there ’ s no reason for the price to come down , ” Haley said . “ In fact , it ’ s only going to go up . We may see that average go even higher until that price ceiling is discovered when so many people aren ’ t willing to pay that much . But we haven ’ t hit it yet . ”
Robert Gren was working from home on Friday when , all of a sudden , his laptop stopped working . What he initially thought was just a kink in his computer ’ s software was in fact part of a global ransomware attackAttack.Ransomthat has affected more than 200,000 computers and caused untold havoc from China to Britain . Now , Mr. Gren and the thousands of other victims worldwide face an agonizing choice : either hand over the ransomAttack.Ransom— a figure that has climbed to $ 600 for each affected machine — by a deadline this Friday , or potentially lose their digital information , including personal photos , hospital patient records and other priceless data , forever . “ I ’ m pretty devastated , ” said Mr. Gren , 32 , a manager of an online entertainment business in Krakow , Poland , who has spent almost all of his waking hours since Friday looking for ways to reclaim his digital data . “ I ’ ve lost private files that I have no other way of recovering . For me , the damage has been huge. ” That decision has become even more difficult as cybersecurity experts and law enforcement officials have repeatedly warned people against paying the ransomAttack.Ransomahead of this week ’ s deadline . Aside from dissuading victims from handing over moneyAttack.Ransomthat may help fund further such attacks , they caution that it is not guaranteed the attackers will return control of people ’ s computers even if they payAttack.Ransomthe assailants in bitcoin , a digital currency favored in such ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomthat can be difficult to trace . Officials also note that the attackers , who have yet to been named , have provided only three bitcoin addresses — similar to a traditional bank routing number — for all global victims to deposit the ransomAttack.Ransom, so it may prove difficult to know who has paid the digital feesAttack.Ransom. This haphazard planning has led many victims to hold off payingAttack.Ransom, at least until they can guarantee they will get their data back . So far , roughly $ 80,000 has been depositedAttack.Ransominto the bitcoin addresses linked to the attackAttack.Ransom, according to Elliptic , a company that tracks online financial transactions involving virtual currencies . F-Secure , a Finnish cybersecurity firm , has confirmed that some of the 200 individuals that it had identified , who had paid the ransomAttack.Ransom, had successfully had their files decrypted . Yet that represented a small fraction of those affected , and the company said it still remained unlikely that people would regain control of their computers if they paid the online feeAttack.Ransom. The tally of ransom paymentsAttack.Ransommay rise ahead of Friday ’ s deadline , but cybersecurity experts say the current numbers — both total ransom money paidAttack.Ransomand machines decrypted — are far short of early estimates forecasting that the digital attack may eventually cost victims hundreds of millions of dollars in combined ransom feesAttack.Ransom. “ I predict this may be an epic failure , ” said Kim Peretti , a former senior litigator in the Department of Justice ’ s computer crime and intellectual property division who now is co-chairwoman of the cybersecurity preparedness and response team at Alston & Bird , an international law firm . “ Because of the publicity of this attack and the public ’ s awareness of people potentially not getting their files back , the figures aren ’ t as high as people had first thought. ” For victims of such attacks , the potential loss of personal or business files can be traumatic . In typical ransomware cases , including the most recent hack , assailants sendAttack.Phishingan encrypted email to potential targets . The message includes a malware attachment that takes over their machines if opened . The attackers then demand paymentAttack.Ransombefore returning control of the computers , often through money paid into bitcoin or other largely untraceable online currencies .
Ransomware authors are profiting from the rise of the cryptocurrency -- but it 's also bringing some unexpected problems for them and other dark web operators . The value of bitcoin has soared in recent days : at the one point the cryptocurrency was worth almost $ 19,000 before it dropped back to around $ 16,500 , where it has roughly remained since . It 's almost impossible to predict what will happen next . The price of bitcoin could rise again or it could crash -- but , for now at least , a single unit of the cryptocurrency is worth a significant amount of money . Bitcoin has become the popular payment method for ransomware over the last two years , as the digital currency provides cybercriminals with a means of collecting ransomsAttack.Ransom, while also making it difficult to get the ransom-collectors ' identities , thanks to the level of anonymity it offers . WannaCryAttack.Ransom, the biggest ransomware event of the year , for example , hitAttack.Ransomhundreds of thousands of PCs around the globe , encrypting files and demanding a paymentAttack.Ransomof $ 300 in bitcoin for the safe return of what was stored on the machine . In this instance , the ransomware code itself was poorly written and the vast majority of victims were able to restore their systems without giving into the demandsAttack.Ransomof the cyber-attackers . However , by the time those behind WannaCryAttack.Ransomhad withdrawn funds from the associated Bitcoin wallets -- a full three months after the attack -- it meant the 338 paymentsAttack.Ransomvictims had made were worth around $ 140,000 , which was an increase in value of just under $ 50,000 compared to when the majority of payments were madeAttack.Ransom. If those behind WannaCryAttack.Ransomhave held onto their illicit investment , they could now be sitting on over $ 1m of bitcoin . But the sudden spike in bitcoin could actually be problematic for some cybercriminals . Before the surge in value , 1 or 0.5 bitcoin was a common ransom demandAttack.Ransom, with the idea that if the fee was low enough -- back then the ransom value worked out at a few hundred dollars -- this would encourage the victim to pay upAttack.Ransom. Even as the value of bitcoin steadily rose during the summer , some attackers were still using the standard amounts of cryptocurrency as their ransom demandAttack.Ransom. For example , Magniber ransomware demanded a paymentAttack.Ransomof 0.2 bitcoin ( $ 1,138 in mid-October ) , rising to 0.4 bitcoin ( $ 2,275 in mid-October ) if the payment wasn't receivedAttack.Ransomwithin five days . Two months later , 0.2 bitcoin is currently worth $ 3,312 while 0.4 bitcoin is up to $ 6,625 . Many forms of ransomware already ask for the paymentAttack.Ransomof a specified amount of dollars to be made in bitcoin . While it pins hopes on victims being able to buy a specific amount of bitcoin and successfully transfer the payment -- which some criminal gangs get around by manning help desks providing advice on buying cryptocurrency -- it 's more likely to result in the victim paying upAttack.Ransom, especially if the figure is just a few hundred dollars . `` I imagine the volatility of bitcoin pricing has been an unexpected problem for cybercriminals . The average ransom demandAttack.Ransomhas remained somewhere between $ 300 to $ 1000 , and normally the ransom note will specify a USD amount , '' Andy Norton , director of threat intelligence at Lastline , told ZDNet . It is n't just ransomware distributors who might be faced with the problem of valuing items in pure bitcoin : a Dark Web vendor -- whether they are selling malware , weapons , drugs , or any other illegal item -- might find that setting their price in pure bitcoin will quickly result in them pricing themselves out of the market . With bitcoin prices continuing to rise , sophisticated cybercriminal operators can likely react to it , altering prices on a day-to-day basis to ensure that they 're able to sustain their business . Criminals are trying out alternative pricing models for ransomware already . Some criminals already operate around the idea that they chargeAttack.Ransomvictims just enough so that they do n't see the ransomAttack.Ransomas too much to payAttack.Ransom-- and that often depends on the country the victims are in . The Fatboy ransomware payment scheme chargesAttack.Ransomvictims in poorer countries less than those in richer ones . Meanwhile , those behind Scarab ransomware have started askingAttack.Ransomvictims to suggest a payment amountAttack.Ransomfor receiving the encryption key for their files .
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 .
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 .
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 .
Officials in Mecklenburg , N.C. must make a difficult decision by 1 p.m . ET on Wednesday : They must choose whether to payAttack.Ransomtwo bitcoins—currently worth about $ 25,000—to hackers who are holding the county ’ s computer files for ransomAttack.Ransom, [ Update : they refused to payAttack.Ransom] . The situation is the latest example of cyber criminals deployingAttack.Ransoma form of software known as ransomware , which freezes up files on a computer network until someone enters a decryption code to unlock them . Typically , the code can only be obtained by payingAttack.Ransomthe hackers . An official for the county , which encompasses the city of Charlotte , said the ransomware was triggered when an employee clicked on an email attachment , and that it is wrecking havoc with daily operations : “ She said an example of the problem is the county ’ s code enforcement office , where much of the work is done electronically . Employees no longer have access to their records . But she said they are switching to paper records for work on Wednesday , ” according to the Charlotte Observer . The official also explained that the county faces a dilemma in deciding whether to payAttack.Ransom. While paying the ransomAttack.Ransommay be the only way to obtain the decryption key , there is no guarantee the hackers will honor their commitment and provide the key . The anonymous hackers do not appear to have targeted Mecklenburg county in particular , but rather the official thinks the attack was launched as part of a broader money-making scheme involving ransomware . Similar attacks , which typically exploit old Microsoft software , struck millions of computers in two separate waves earlier this year , affecting everything from businesses to governments to hospitals . While most of the incidents occurred in Europe and Asia , U.S. organizations were hit too—including a transit system in Sacramento , Calif. and a hospital in Los Angeles .
Officials in Mecklenburg , N.C. must make a difficult decision by 1 p.m . ET on Wednesday : They must choose whether to payAttack.Ransomtwo bitcoins—currently worth about $ 25,000—to hackers who are holding the county ’ s computer files for ransomAttack.Ransom, [ Update : they refused to payAttack.Ransom] . The situation is the latest example of cyber criminals deployingAttack.Ransoma form of software known as ransomware , which freezes up files on a computer network until someone enters a decryption code to unlock them . Typically , the code can only be obtained by payingAttack.Ransomthe hackers . An official for the county , which encompasses the city of Charlotte , said the ransomware was triggered when an employee clicked on an email attachment , and that it is wrecking havoc with daily operations : “ She said an example of the problem is the county ’ s code enforcement office , where much of the work is done electronically . Employees no longer have access to their records . But she said they are switching to paper records for work on Wednesday , ” according to the Charlotte Observer . The official also explained that the county faces a dilemma in deciding whether to payAttack.Ransom. While paying the ransomAttack.Ransommay be the only way to obtain the decryption key , there is no guarantee the hackers will honor their commitment and provide the key . The anonymous hackers do not appear to have targeted Mecklenburg county in particular , but rather the official thinks the attack was launched as part of a broader money-making scheme involving ransomware . Similar attacks , which typically exploit old Microsoft software , struck millions of computers in two separate waves earlier this year , affecting everything from businesses to governments to hospitals . While most of the incidents occurred in Europe and Asia , U.S. organizations were hit too—including a transit system in Sacramento , Calif. and a hospital in Los Angeles .
Officials in Mecklenburg , N.C. must make a difficult decision by 1 p.m . ET on Wednesday : They must choose whether to payAttack.Ransomtwo bitcoins—currently worth about $ 25,000—to hackers who are holding the county ’ s computer files for ransomAttack.Ransom, [ Update : they refused to payAttack.Ransom] . The situation is the latest example of cyber criminals deployingAttack.Ransoma form of software known as ransomware , which freezes up files on a computer network until someone enters a decryption code to unlock them . Typically , the code can only be obtained by payingAttack.Ransomthe hackers . An official for the county , which encompasses the city of Charlotte , said the ransomware was triggered when an employee clicked on an email attachment , and that it is wrecking havoc with daily operations : “ She said an example of the problem is the county ’ s code enforcement office , where much of the work is done electronically . Employees no longer have access to their records . But she said they are switching to paper records for work on Wednesday , ” according to the Charlotte Observer . The official also explained that the county faces a dilemma in deciding whether to payAttack.Ransom. While paying the ransomAttack.Ransommay be the only way to obtain the decryption key , there is no guarantee the hackers will honor their commitment and provide the key . The anonymous hackers do not appear to have targeted Mecklenburg county in particular , but rather the official thinks the attack was launched as part of a broader money-making scheme involving ransomware . Similar attacks , which typically exploit old Microsoft software , struck millions of computers in two separate waves earlier this year , affecting everything from businesses to governments to hospitals . While most of the incidents occurred in Europe and Asia , U.S. organizations were hit too—including a transit system in Sacramento , Calif. and a hospital in Los Angeles .
Infamous Necurs botnet seen sendingAttack.Phishingspam emails containing new ransomware to millions of potential victims in just a few hours . A new form of ransomware is indiscriminately targeting millions of PCs , spread by the prolific botnet behind one of the most successful forms of ransomware in the world . The new ransomware is called Jaff and given that it appears to be heavily mimicking tactics of the infamous Locky - the most successful ransomware family of 2016 - it has the potential to become a major nuisance . It 's also brazen in its ransom demandsAttack.Ransom, demandingAttack.Ransomvictims payAttack.Ransom1.79 Bitcoins - currently $ 3,300 - in order to regain access to the infected network and encrypted files . It 's an ambitious ransomAttack.Ransom- most forms of ransomware want a paymentAttack.Ransomof between $ 500 and $ 1000 - but the authors are likely to be aware that many organisations are willing to give in and payAttack.Ransomto avoid losing business-critical files . As noted by cybersecurity researchers at Forcepoint , the Jaff campaignAttack.Ransomsprung to life on May 11 , using the Necurs botnet to sendAttack.Phishingmillions of spam emails emailsAttack.Phishingto targets across the globe in the space of just a few hours . The malicious email itself is sentAttack.Phishingwith a subject line referring to a receipt or to a fake document , with the pattern involving the words PDF , Scan , File , Copy or Document followed by an underscore and a string of at least four numbers - four example , one subject line seen by researchers was 'Copy _293636 ' Attached to this email is a PDF document containing an embedded DOCM file and a malicious Macro script . If this is run , the ransomware payload is executed and Jaff targets and encrypts a wide variety of file extensions , renaming them all to end in .jaff . While the attack might seem basic - especially compared with targeted spear-phising attacksAttack.Phishing- the sheer number of messages sent outAttack.Phishingmeans that even just a tiny percentage of targets open the email , download the attachment and enable the macros , this new ransomware could have a sizeable impact . As with other ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom, the infected victim sees their desktop changed to a ransom note and they 're directed to instructions , telling them their files are encrypted and that they must visit a dark web address in order to payAttack.Ransomto get their files back . It 's this combined with how the ransomware is spread by Necurs - which leads researchers to suggest that there 's a connection between Jaff and Locky : the Jaff decryptor website and the Locky decryptor website look almost identical . Researchers also note that while the code behind Jaff is less sophisticated than Locky , it carries one major similarity - the ransomware will delete itself from the infected machine if the local language is Russian . If the ransomware does not want to target Russian users this might suggest it originate from Russia and the developers do n't want to cause trouble in their own neighbourhood . While researchers ca n't say for certain if Jaff is definitively linked to the gang behind Locky but those behind it have the funding and skills required to carry out a sophisticated campaign . `` What is clear , given the volume of messages sent , is that the actors behind the campaign have expended significant resources on making such a grand entrance , '' said Forcepoint researchers .
Infamous Necurs botnet seen sendingAttack.Phishingspam emails containing new ransomware to millions of potential victims in just a few hours . A new form of ransomware is indiscriminately targeting millions of PCs , spread by the prolific botnet behind one of the most successful forms of ransomware in the world . The new ransomware is called Jaff and given that it appears to be heavily mimicking tactics of the infamous Locky - the most successful ransomware family of 2016 - it has the potential to become a major nuisance . It 's also brazen in its ransom demandsAttack.Ransom, demandingAttack.Ransomvictims payAttack.Ransom1.79 Bitcoins - currently $ 3,300 - in order to regain access to the infected network and encrypted files . It 's an ambitious ransomAttack.Ransom- most forms of ransomware want a paymentAttack.Ransomof between $ 500 and $ 1000 - but the authors are likely to be aware that many organisations are willing to give in and payAttack.Ransomto avoid losing business-critical files . As noted by cybersecurity researchers at Forcepoint , the Jaff campaignAttack.Ransomsprung to life on May 11 , using the Necurs botnet to sendAttack.Phishingmillions of spam emails emailsAttack.Phishingto targets across the globe in the space of just a few hours . The malicious email itself is sentAttack.Phishingwith a subject line referring to a receipt or to a fake document , with the pattern involving the words PDF , Scan , File , Copy or Document followed by an underscore and a string of at least four numbers - four example , one subject line seen by researchers was 'Copy _293636 ' Attached to this email is a PDF document containing an embedded DOCM file and a malicious Macro script . If this is run , the ransomware payload is executed and Jaff targets and encrypts a wide variety of file extensions , renaming them all to end in .jaff . While the attack might seem basic - especially compared with targeted spear-phising attacksAttack.Phishing- the sheer number of messages sent outAttack.Phishingmeans that even just a tiny percentage of targets open the email , download the attachment and enable the macros , this new ransomware could have a sizeable impact . As with other ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom, the infected victim sees their desktop changed to a ransom note and they 're directed to instructions , telling them their files are encrypted and that they must visit a dark web address in order to payAttack.Ransomto get their files back . It 's this combined with how the ransomware is spread by Necurs - which leads researchers to suggest that there 's a connection between Jaff and Locky : the Jaff decryptor website and the Locky decryptor website look almost identical . Researchers also note that while the code behind Jaff is less sophisticated than Locky , it carries one major similarity - the ransomware will delete itself from the infected machine if the local language is Russian . If the ransomware does not want to target Russian users this might suggest it originate from Russia and the developers do n't want to cause trouble in their own neighbourhood . While researchers ca n't say for certain if Jaff is definitively linked to the gang behind Locky but those behind it have the funding and skills required to carry out a sophisticated campaign . `` What is clear , given the volume of messages sent , is that the actors behind the campaign have expended significant resources on making such a grand entrance , '' said Forcepoint researchers .
Infamous Necurs botnet seen sendingAttack.Phishingspam emails containing new ransomware to millions of potential victims in just a few hours . A new form of ransomware is indiscriminately targeting millions of PCs , spread by the prolific botnet behind one of the most successful forms of ransomware in the world . The new ransomware is called Jaff and given that it appears to be heavily mimicking tactics of the infamous Locky - the most successful ransomware family of 2016 - it has the potential to become a major nuisance . It 's also brazen in its ransom demandsAttack.Ransom, demandingAttack.Ransomvictims payAttack.Ransom1.79 Bitcoins - currently $ 3,300 - in order to regain access to the infected network and encrypted files . It 's an ambitious ransomAttack.Ransom- most forms of ransomware want a paymentAttack.Ransomof between $ 500 and $ 1000 - but the authors are likely to be aware that many organisations are willing to give in and payAttack.Ransomto avoid losing business-critical files . As noted by cybersecurity researchers at Forcepoint , the Jaff campaignAttack.Ransomsprung to life on May 11 , using the Necurs botnet to sendAttack.Phishingmillions of spam emails emailsAttack.Phishingto targets across the globe in the space of just a few hours . The malicious email itself is sentAttack.Phishingwith a subject line referring to a receipt or to a fake document , with the pattern involving the words PDF , Scan , File , Copy or Document followed by an underscore and a string of at least four numbers - four example , one subject line seen by researchers was 'Copy _293636 ' Attached to this email is a PDF document containing an embedded DOCM file and a malicious Macro script . If this is run , the ransomware payload is executed and Jaff targets and encrypts a wide variety of file extensions , renaming them all to end in .jaff . While the attack might seem basic - especially compared with targeted spear-phising attacksAttack.Phishing- the sheer number of messages sent outAttack.Phishingmeans that even just a tiny percentage of targets open the email , download the attachment and enable the macros , this new ransomware could have a sizeable impact . As with other ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom, the infected victim sees their desktop changed to a ransom note and they 're directed to instructions , telling them their files are encrypted and that they must visit a dark web address in order to payAttack.Ransomto get their files back . It 's this combined with how the ransomware is spread by Necurs - which leads researchers to suggest that there 's a connection between Jaff and Locky : the Jaff decryptor website and the Locky decryptor website look almost identical . Researchers also note that while the code behind Jaff is less sophisticated than Locky , it carries one major similarity - the ransomware will delete itself from the infected machine if the local language is Russian . If the ransomware does not want to target Russian users this might suggest it originate from Russia and the developers do n't want to cause trouble in their own neighbourhood . While researchers ca n't say for certain if Jaff is definitively linked to the gang behind Locky but those behind it have the funding and skills required to carry out a sophisticated campaign . `` What is clear , given the volume of messages sent , is that the actors behind the campaign have expended significant resources on making such a grand entrance , '' said Forcepoint researchers .
The murky ecosystem of ransomware paymentsAttack.Ransomcomes into focus in new research led by Damon McCoy , an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering . Ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom, which encrypt and hold a computer user 's files hostage in exchange for paymentAttack.Ransom, extortAttack.Ransommillions of dollars from individuals each month , and comprise one of the fastest-growing forms of cyber attack . In a paper slated for presentation at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in May , McCoy and a team including researchers from the University of California , San Diego ; Princeton University ; Google ; and the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis provide the first detailed account of the ransomware payment ecosystem , from initial attack to cash-out . Key findings include the discovery that South Koreans are disproportionately impactedAttack.Ransomby ransomware campaigns , with analysis revealing that $ 2.5 million of the $ 16 million in ransomware paymentsAttack.Ransomtracked by the researchers was paidAttack.Ransomin South Korea . The paper 's authors call for additional research to determine the reason that so many South Koreans are victimized and how they can be protected . The team also found that most ransomware operators used a Russian bitcoin exchange , BTC-E , to convert bitcoin to fiat currencies . ( BTC-E has since been seized by the FBI . ) The researchers estimate that at least 20,000 individuals made ransomware paymentsAttack.Ransomover the past two years , at a confirmed cost of $ 16 million , although the actual payment total is likely far higher . McCoy and his collaborators took advantage of the public nature of the bitcoin blockchain technology to trace ransom paymentsAttack.Ransomover a two-year period¬ . Bitcoins are the most common currency of ransomware paymentsAttack.Ransom, and because most victims do not own them , the initial bitcoin purchase provides a starting point for tracking payments . Each ransomware victim is often given a unique payment address that directs to a bitcoin wallet where the ransomAttack.Ransomis collected . The research team tapped public reports of ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomto identify these addresses and correlate them with blockchain transactions . To boost the number of transactions available for analysis , the team also executed real ransomware binaries in a controlled experimental environment , essentially becoming victims themselves and making micropayments to real ransom wallets in order to follow the bitcoin trail . `` Ransomware operators ultimately direct bitcoin to a central account that they cash out periodically , and by injecting a little bit of our own money into the larger flow we could identify those central accounts , see the other payments flowing in , and begin to understand the number of victims and the amount of money being collected , '' McCoy said . The research team acknowledged that ethical issues prevent exploration of certain aspects of the ransomware ecosystem , including determining the percentage of victims who actually payAttack.Ransomto recover their files . McCoy explained that despite having the ability to check for activity connected to a specific payment address , doing so would effectively `` start the clock '' and potentially cause victims to either pay a double ransomAttack.Ransomor lose the opportunity to recover their files altogether . Criminal use of cryptocurrencies is one of McCoy 's research focuses . He and fellow researchers previously tracked human traffickers through their use of Bitcoin advertising .
DDoS extortionists have already pounced on the Memcached DDoS attack vector in attempts to extract paymentsAttack.Ransomfrom attacked companies . Akamai revealed earlier today that it detected DDoS attacks executed via Memcached servers that were different from others . Instead of blasting targets with UDP packets containing random data , one group of attackers is leaving short messages inside these packets . This one group is askingAttack.Ransomvictims to payAttack.Ransom50 Monero —around $ 17,000— to a Monero address . The group does n't say it will stop the attack but only implies it . Such attacks have first appeared in 2015 and were initially referred to as DDoS-for-Bitcoin after the DD4BTC group that pioneered such tactics . The group would send emails to various companies , threatening to launch DDoS attacks unless they paid a ransom feeAttack.Ransom. Even if the group 's members were arrested , other factions appeared in subsequent years , using unique names such as Armada Collective or XMR Squad , but also mimicking hacker groups such as Anonymous or LulzSec . The tactic , now known as ransom DDoS (RDoS)Attack.Ransom, has become quite popular among cybercriminal groups , and there have been too many RDoS campaignsAttack.Ransomto remember in the past years . In most past cases , attackers did n't have the firepower to launch DDoS attacks if victims ignored the ransom demandAttack.Ransom. But the Memcached-based DDoS extortionsAttack.Ransomare different . Attackers clearly have the DDoS cannon to take down companies , mainly due to the large number of unsecured Memcached servers they can abuse to launch these attacksAttack.Ransom. Victims are also more likely to payAttack.Ransom, seeing that they 're under a heavy attackAttack.Ransomand this is n't just an empty threat . But according to Daniel Smith , a Radware security researcher who spoke with Bleeping Computer , paying the Monero ransomAttack.Ransomwo n't help companies at all.That 's because attackers have used the same Monero address for multiple DDoS attacks against different targets . Here 's the same Monero address from the Akamai attacks , but spotted by a different security researcher . Attackers would n't have the ability to tell which of the multiple targets they attacked paid the ransomAttack.Ransom. The general consensus is that this group is using a carpet bombing technique , hittingAttack.Ransomas many targets as possible for short bursts , hoping to scare one into payingAttack.Ransom. `` Multiple targets are sent the same message in hopes that any of them will pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, '' Akamai said in a report today , echoing Smith 's recommendation not to pay the ransomAttack.Ransom. `` There is no sign to suggest that they are actively tracking the targets reaction to the attacks , no contact information , no detailed instructions on payment notification , '' Akamai added . `` If a victim were to deposit the requested amountAttack.Ransominto the wallet , we doubt the attackers would even know which victim the paymentAttack.Ransomoriginated from , let alone stop their attacks as a result . ''
DDoS extortionists have already pounced on the Memcached DDoS attack vector in attempts to extract paymentsAttack.Ransomfrom attacked companies . Akamai revealed earlier today that it detected DDoS attacks executed via Memcached servers that were different from others . Instead of blasting targets with UDP packets containing random data , one group of attackers is leaving short messages inside these packets . This one group is askingAttack.Ransomvictims to payAttack.Ransom50 Monero —around $ 17,000— to a Monero address . The group does n't say it will stop the attack but only implies it . Such attacks have first appeared in 2015 and were initially referred to as DDoS-for-Bitcoin after the DD4BTC group that pioneered such tactics . The group would send emails to various companies , threatening to launch DDoS attacks unless they paid a ransom feeAttack.Ransom. Even if the group 's members were arrested , other factions appeared in subsequent years , using unique names such as Armada Collective or XMR Squad , but also mimicking hacker groups such as Anonymous or LulzSec . The tactic , now known as ransom DDoS (RDoS)Attack.Ransom, has become quite popular among cybercriminal groups , and there have been too many RDoS campaignsAttack.Ransomto remember in the past years . In most past cases , attackers did n't have the firepower to launch DDoS attacks if victims ignored the ransom demandAttack.Ransom. But the Memcached-based DDoS extortionsAttack.Ransomare different . Attackers clearly have the DDoS cannon to take down companies , mainly due to the large number of unsecured Memcached servers they can abuse to launch these attacksAttack.Ransom. Victims are also more likely to payAttack.Ransom, seeing that they 're under a heavy attackAttack.Ransomand this is n't just an empty threat . But according to Daniel Smith , a Radware security researcher who spoke with Bleeping Computer , paying the Monero ransomAttack.Ransomwo n't help companies at all.That 's because attackers have used the same Monero address for multiple DDoS attacks against different targets . Here 's the same Monero address from the Akamai attacks , but spotted by a different security researcher . Attackers would n't have the ability to tell which of the multiple targets they attacked paid the ransomAttack.Ransom. The general consensus is that this group is using a carpet bombing technique , hittingAttack.Ransomas many targets as possible for short bursts , hoping to scare one into payingAttack.Ransom. `` Multiple targets are sent the same message in hopes that any of them will pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, '' Akamai said in a report today , echoing Smith 's recommendation not to pay the ransomAttack.Ransom. `` There is no sign to suggest that they are actively tracking the targets reaction to the attacks , no contact information , no detailed instructions on payment notification , '' Akamai added . `` If a victim were to deposit the requested amountAttack.Ransominto the wallet , we doubt the attackers would even know which victim the paymentAttack.Ransomoriginated from , let alone stop their attacks as a result . ''
( TNS ) — Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must sendAttack.Ransomus 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn’t payingAttack.Ransom, but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total paymentsAttack.Ransomare nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currencyAttack.Ransomlike bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and paymentsAttack.Ransomare approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paidAttack.Ransom$ 25 million in ransomAttack.Ransomto get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransomAttack.Ransomdon ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attackedAttack.Ransomby SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to payAttack.Ransomthe estimated $ 44,000 ransomAttack.Ransom. It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneakedAttack.Ransominto Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to payAttack.Ransom4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransomAttack.Ransom. Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Colorado security officials are still investigating the CDOT ransomware attackAttack.Ransomthat took 2,000 employee computers offline for more than a week . They don ’ t plan to pay the ransomAttack.Ransombut offered few details about the attackAttack.Ransomother than confirming it was a variant of the SamSam ransomware . Security researchers with Cisco ’ s Talos , which shared the SamSam message with The Denver Post , reported in January that the new SamSam variant had so far collected 30.4 bitcoin , or about $ 325,217 . The reality is that people need to be smarter about computer security . That means patching software , using anti-malware software , and not sharing passwords and accounts . And not opening files , emails or links from unfamiliar sources — and sometimes familiar sources . Webroot doesn ’ t have an official stance on whether to pay a ransomAttack.Ransomto get files back , but Dufour says it ’ s a personal decision . Cybersecurity companies like Webroot can advise whether the hacker has a reputation for restoring files after payment is receivedAttack.Ransom. “ Paying a ransomAttack.Ransomto a cybercriminal is an incredibly personal decision . It ’ s easy to say not to negotiate with criminals when it ’ s not your family photos or business data that you ’ ll never see again . Unfortunately , if you want your data back , paying the ransomAttack.Ransomis often the only option , ” Dufour said . “ However , it ’ s important to know that there are some strains of ransomware that have coding and encryption errors . For these cases , even paying the ransomAttack.Ransomwon ’ t decrypt your data . I recommend checking with a computer security expert before paying any ransomAttack.Ransom. ”
( TNS ) — Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must sendAttack.Ransomus 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn’t payingAttack.Ransom, but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total paymentsAttack.Ransomare nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currencyAttack.Ransomlike bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and paymentsAttack.Ransomare approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paidAttack.Ransom$ 25 million in ransomAttack.Ransomto get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransomAttack.Ransomdon ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attackedAttack.Ransomby SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to payAttack.Ransomthe estimated $ 44,000 ransomAttack.Ransom. It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneakedAttack.Ransominto Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to payAttack.Ransom4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransomAttack.Ransom. Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Colorado security officials are still investigating the CDOT ransomware attackAttack.Ransomthat took 2,000 employee computers offline for more than a week . They don ’ t plan to pay the ransomAttack.Ransombut offered few details about the attackAttack.Ransomother than confirming it was a variant of the SamSam ransomware . Security researchers with Cisco ’ s Talos , which shared the SamSam message with The Denver Post , reported in January that the new SamSam variant had so far collected 30.4 bitcoin , or about $ 325,217 . The reality is that people need to be smarter about computer security . That means patching software , using anti-malware software , and not sharing passwords and accounts . And not opening files , emails or links from unfamiliar sources — and sometimes familiar sources . Webroot doesn ’ t have an official stance on whether to pay a ransomAttack.Ransomto get files back , but Dufour says it ’ s a personal decision . Cybersecurity companies like Webroot can advise whether the hacker has a reputation for restoring files after payment is receivedAttack.Ransom. “ Paying a ransomAttack.Ransomto a cybercriminal is an incredibly personal decision . It ’ s easy to say not to negotiate with criminals when it ’ s not your family photos or business data that you ’ ll never see again . Unfortunately , if you want your data back , paying the ransomAttack.Ransomis often the only option , ” Dufour said . “ However , it ’ s important to know that there are some strains of ransomware that have coding and encryption errors . For these cases , even paying the ransomAttack.Ransomwon ’ t decrypt your data . I recommend checking with a computer security expert before paying any ransomAttack.Ransom. ”
Although Robert Herjavec , an investor on ABC 's `` Shark Tank , '' expects the price of bitcoin to `` skyrocket , '' he has no plans to personally buy any . That 's because as the CEO of cybersecurity firm Herjavec Group , he does n't want to support the growing trend of hackers using cryptocurrency . `` I ca n't invest in something that my enemy uses as funds , '' he explained on CNBC 's `` Squawk Alley . '' Indeed , `` If there was no cryptocurrency , much of the large hacks that we 're seeing today would n't exist , '' Herjavec told Money . As one example , Herjavec is concerned with the role cryptocurrency plays in ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom. `` Cryptocurrency permits anonymity , '' he explains to CNBC Make It . `` It 's a very popular form of payment for ransomware in particular . '' Ransomware is a type of software that locks or encrypts a computer user 's data and files , in affect holding it hostage . To release the information , a hacker will demand a ransom paymentAttack.Ransom. Ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomincreased 6,000 percent in 2016 from 2015 , according to a study from IBM Security . And in 2017 , 200,000 computers in 150 countries belonging to businesses , governments and even the U.K. National Health Service were impactedAttack.Ransomby the ransomware virus known as WannaCry . In that case , victims were told to make a paymentAttack.Ransomin bitcoin to get their computers back . Hackers often demand the ransomAttack.Ransombe paid in cryptocurrency because it allows them to remain anonymous , Herjavec says . `` I can take over your computer or personal information , hold it for ransomAttack.Ransom, give you instructions on how to create a virtual wallet , forceAttack.Ransomyou to payAttack.Ransomme , and you have no way of finding out who I am , '' Herjavec explains . That 's because a bitcoin wallet is only identified by a number , and `` payments are direct without a bank or credit card company acting as the middle man , '' Herjavec says . `` There is no money trail , so it 's very difficult to track back to an individual . '' With WannaCry , the hackers asked forAttack.Ransom$ 300 worth of bitcoin from victims , and if they waited over 72 hours to payAttack.Ransom, the fine increased to $ 600 . If they waited a week , their information would be locked for good . The Trump administration pointed to North Korea as the originator of the attack . In 2016 , ransomware was used to coerce Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center , a hospital in Los Angeles , to payAttack.Ransom40 bitcoin to hackers , The New York Times reports . That sum was then worth $ 17,000 . Bitcoin closed at $ 10,779.90 on Tuesday , March 6 , according to CoinMarketCap , which makes those 40 coins worth about $ 431,196 . To protect yourself from ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom, take steps to secure your online information . `` Keep your computer and data safe by backing up often , using cloud services with dual factor authentication and complex passwords , '' Herjavec suggests . `` Have anti-virus [ software ] installed and kept up to date . ''
Although Robert Herjavec , an investor on ABC 's `` Shark Tank , '' expects the price of bitcoin to `` skyrocket , '' he has no plans to personally buy any . That 's because as the CEO of cybersecurity firm Herjavec Group , he does n't want to support the growing trend of hackers using cryptocurrency . `` I ca n't invest in something that my enemy uses as funds , '' he explained on CNBC 's `` Squawk Alley . '' Indeed , `` If there was no cryptocurrency , much of the large hacks that we 're seeing today would n't exist , '' Herjavec told Money . As one example , Herjavec is concerned with the role cryptocurrency plays in ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom. `` Cryptocurrency permits anonymity , '' he explains to CNBC Make It . `` It 's a very popular form of payment for ransomware in particular . '' Ransomware is a type of software that locks or encrypts a computer user 's data and files , in affect holding it hostage . To release the information , a hacker will demand a ransom paymentAttack.Ransom. Ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomincreased 6,000 percent in 2016 from 2015 , according to a study from IBM Security . And in 2017 , 200,000 computers in 150 countries belonging to businesses , governments and even the U.K. National Health Service were impactedAttack.Ransomby the ransomware virus known as WannaCry . In that case , victims were told to make a paymentAttack.Ransomin bitcoin to get their computers back . Hackers often demand the ransomAttack.Ransombe paid in cryptocurrency because it allows them to remain anonymous , Herjavec says . `` I can take over your computer or personal information , hold it for ransomAttack.Ransom, give you instructions on how to create a virtual wallet , forceAttack.Ransomyou to payAttack.Ransomme , and you have no way of finding out who I am , '' Herjavec explains . That 's because a bitcoin wallet is only identified by a number , and `` payments are direct without a bank or credit card company acting as the middle man , '' Herjavec says . `` There is no money trail , so it 's very difficult to track back to an individual . '' With WannaCry , the hackers asked forAttack.Ransom$ 300 worth of bitcoin from victims , and if they waited over 72 hours to payAttack.Ransom, the fine increased to $ 600 . If they waited a week , their information would be locked for good . The Trump administration pointed to North Korea as the originator of the attack . In 2016 , ransomware was used to coerce Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center , a hospital in Los Angeles , to payAttack.Ransom40 bitcoin to hackers , The New York Times reports . That sum was then worth $ 17,000 . Bitcoin closed at $ 10,779.90 on Tuesday , March 6 , according to CoinMarketCap , which makes those 40 coins worth about $ 431,196 . To protect yourself from ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom, take steps to secure your online information . `` Keep your computer and data safe by backing up often , using cloud services with dual factor authentication and complex passwords , '' Herjavec suggests . `` Have anti-virus [ software ] installed and kept up to date . ''
Although Robert Herjavec , an investor on ABC 's `` Shark Tank , '' expects the price of bitcoin to `` skyrocket , '' he has no plans to personally buy any . That 's because as the CEO of cybersecurity firm Herjavec Group , he does n't want to support the growing trend of hackers using cryptocurrency . `` I ca n't invest in something that my enemy uses as funds , '' he explained on CNBC 's `` Squawk Alley . '' Indeed , `` If there was no cryptocurrency , much of the large hacks that we 're seeing today would n't exist , '' Herjavec told Money . As one example , Herjavec is concerned with the role cryptocurrency plays in ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom. `` Cryptocurrency permits anonymity , '' he explains to CNBC Make It . `` It 's a very popular form of payment for ransomware in particular . '' Ransomware is a type of software that locks or encrypts a computer user 's data and files , in affect holding it hostage . To release the information , a hacker will demand a ransom paymentAttack.Ransom. Ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomincreased 6,000 percent in 2016 from 2015 , according to a study from IBM Security . And in 2017 , 200,000 computers in 150 countries belonging to businesses , governments and even the U.K. National Health Service were impactedAttack.Ransomby the ransomware virus known as WannaCry . In that case , victims were told to make a paymentAttack.Ransomin bitcoin to get their computers back . Hackers often demand the ransomAttack.Ransombe paid in cryptocurrency because it allows them to remain anonymous , Herjavec says . `` I can take over your computer or personal information , hold it for ransomAttack.Ransom, give you instructions on how to create a virtual wallet , forceAttack.Ransomyou to payAttack.Ransomme , and you have no way of finding out who I am , '' Herjavec explains . That 's because a bitcoin wallet is only identified by a number , and `` payments are direct without a bank or credit card company acting as the middle man , '' Herjavec says . `` There is no money trail , so it 's very difficult to track back to an individual . '' With WannaCry , the hackers asked forAttack.Ransom$ 300 worth of bitcoin from victims , and if they waited over 72 hours to payAttack.Ransom, the fine increased to $ 600 . If they waited a week , their information would be locked for good . The Trump administration pointed to North Korea as the originator of the attack . In 2016 , ransomware was used to coerce Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center , a hospital in Los Angeles , to payAttack.Ransom40 bitcoin to hackers , The New York Times reports . That sum was then worth $ 17,000 . Bitcoin closed at $ 10,779.90 on Tuesday , March 6 , according to CoinMarketCap , which makes those 40 coins worth about $ 431,196 . To protect yourself from ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom, take steps to secure your online information . `` Keep your computer and data safe by backing up often , using cloud services with dual factor authentication and complex passwords , '' Herjavec suggests . `` Have anti-virus [ software ] installed and kept up to date . ''
Hackers logged into the hospital ’ s remote access portal using a third-party vendor ’ s username and password . Greenfield , Indiana-based Hancock Health paidAttack.Ransomhackers 4 bitcoin or about $ 47,000 to unlock its network on Saturday , after the health system fell victim to a ransomware attackAttack.Ransomon Thursday night . Hackers compromisedAttack.Databreacha third-party vendor ’ s administrative account to the hospital ’ s remote-access portal and launched SamSam ransomware . The virus infected a number of the hospital ’ s IT system and , according to local reports , the malware targeted over 1,400 files and changed the name of each to “ I ’ m sorry. ” Hancock officials followed its incident response and crisis management plan and contacted legal representation and outside security firm immediately following the discovery of the attack . Hospital leadership also contacted the FBI for advisory assistance . The incident was contained by Friday and officials said the next focus was recovery . Hancock Health was given just seven days to pay the ransomAttack.Ransom. While officials said Hancock could have recovered the affected files from backups , it would have taken days or possibly weeks to do so . And it would have been more expensive . “ 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 snow storm at hand , coupled with one of the worst flu seasons in memory , we wanted to recover our systems in the quickest way possible and avoid extending the burden toward other hospitals of diverting patients . Restoring from backup was considered , though we made the deliberate decision to pay the ransomAttack.Ransomto expedite our return to full operations. ” Hackers released the files early Saturday after they retrieved the bitcoins . The hospital ’ s critical systems were restored to normal function on Monday . The forensic analysis found patient data was not transferredAttack.Databreachoutside of the hospital ’ s network , and the FBI confirmed the motivation for SamSam hackers is ransom paymentAttack.Ransom, not to harvestAttack.Databreachpatient data . The virus did not impact any equipment used to treat patients . However , the hospital ’ s patient portal was down during the security incident . After recovery , officials asked employees to reset passwords and implemented a security feature that could detect similar attacks in the future . The breachAttack.Databreachshould serve as a wake-up call that ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomcan happen . However , it ’ s important to note the FBI , the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a laundry list of security experts have long stressed that organizations should not pay ransomsAttack.Ransomto hackers . While the hackers returned the files to Hancock , there was no guarantee that would happen . For example , Kansas Heart Hospital paid a ransomAttack.Ransomin May 2016 , and the hackers kept the files and demanded another paymentAttack.Ransom. The hospital declined to payAttack.Ransoma second time . Secondly , when an organization paysAttack.Ransom, hackers place the business on a list of those willing to pay the ransomAttack.Ransomand can expect to be hitAttack.Ransomagain in the future . “ There are lists out there , if you pay once , you may end up having to pay again because you ’ ve been marked as an organization that will pay , ” said CynergisTek CEO Mac McMillan .
In wake of an attack on computers at Colorado ’ s DOT , experts at Webroot shed light on ransomware Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must sendAttack.Ransomus 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn ’ t payingAttack.Ransom, but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total paymentsAttack.Ransomare nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currencyAttack.Ransomlike bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . To better understand how ransomware works and how it has spread so effectively , The Denver Post talked with Broomfield anti-malware company Webroot , which got its start in the late 1990s cleansing computer viruses from personal computers . “ The end goal is just to put ransomware on the computer because right now the most successful way for cybercriminals to make money is with ransomingAttack.Ransomyour files , ” said Tyler Moffitt , a senior threat research analyst at Webroot . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and paymentsAttack.Ransomare approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paidAttack.Ransom$ 25 million in ransomAttack.Ransomto get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransomAttack.Ransomdon ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . It ’ s a growing business for cybercriminals . And whether to pay or not is something each user or company must decide . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attackedAttack.Ransomby SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to payAttack.Ransomthe estimated $ 44,000 ransomAttack.Ransom. It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneakedAttack.Ransominto Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to payAttack.Ransom4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransomAttack.Ransom. Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Other times , malware isn ’ t so obvious . Some propagate when user visits infected websites . A trojan named Poweliks injected bad code into vulnerable programs , like an unpatched Internet Explorer . Poweliks crept into the Windows registry to force the computer to do all sorts of nasty things , from demanding a ransomAttack.Ransomto joining a click-fraud bot network to click ads without the user even realizing it . There also are booby-trapped ads , known as malvertising . They get into computers by , again , targeting flawed software and injecting malicious code . This has targeted programs like unpatched Adobe Flash Player , Java or other runtime software , or software that runs online all the time .
In wake of an attack on computers at Colorado ’ s DOT , experts at Webroot shed light on ransomware Last month , employees at the Colorado Department of Transportation were greeted by a message on their computer screens similar to this : “ All your files are encrypted with RSA-2048 encryption . … It ’ s not possible to recover your files without private key . … You must sendAttack.Ransomus 0.7 BitCoin for each affected PC or 3 BitCoins to receive ALL Private Keys for ALL affected PC ’ s. ” CDOT isn ’ t payingAttack.Ransom, but others have . In fact , so-called ransomware has become one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises in the U.S. and internationally , with the FBI estimating total paymentsAttack.Ransomare nearing $ 1 billion . Hackers use ransomware to encrypt computer files , making them unreadable without a secret key , and then demand digital currencyAttack.Ransomlike bitcoin if victims want the files back — and many victims are falling for that promise . To better understand how ransomware works and how it has spread so effectively , The Denver Post talked with Broomfield anti-malware company Webroot , which got its start in the late 1990s cleansing computer viruses from personal computers . “ The end goal is just to put ransomware on the computer because right now the most successful way for cybercriminals to make money is with ransomingAttack.Ransomyour files , ” said Tyler Moffitt , a senior threat research analyst at Webroot . Ransomware infects more than 100,000 computers around the world every day and paymentsAttack.Ransomare approaching $ 1 billion , said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein during the October 2017 Cambridge Cyber Summit , citing FBI statistics . A study by researchers at Google , Chainalysis , University of California San Diego and NYU Tandon School of Engineering estimated that from 2016 to mid 2017 , victims paidAttack.Ransom$ 25 million in ransomAttack.Ransomto get files back . And one out of five businesses that do pay the ransomAttack.Ransomdon ’ t get their data back , according to 2016 report by Kaspersky Labs . It ’ s a growing business for cybercriminals . And whether to pay or not is something each user or company must decide . Last spring , the Erie County Medical Center in New York was attackedAttack.Ransomby SamSam due to a misconfigured web server , according to The Buffalo News . Because it had backed up its files , the hospital decided not to payAttack.Ransomthe estimated $ 44,000 ransomAttack.Ransom. It took six weeks to get back to normal at a recovery cost of nearly $ 10 million . More recently in January , the new SamSam variant sneakedAttack.Ransominto Indiana hospital Hancock Health , which decided to payAttack.Ransom4 bitcoin , or about $ 55,000 , in ransomAttack.Ransom. Attackers gained entry by using a vendor ’ s username and password on a Thursday night . The hospital was back online by Monday morning . Other times , malware isn ’ t so obvious . Some propagate when user visits infected websites . A trojan named Poweliks injected bad code into vulnerable programs , like an unpatched Internet Explorer . Poweliks crept into the Windows registry to force the computer to do all sorts of nasty things , from demanding a ransomAttack.Ransomto joining a click-fraud bot network to click ads without the user even realizing it . There also are booby-trapped ads , known as malvertising . They get into computers by , again , targeting flawed software and injecting malicious code . This has targeted programs like unpatched Adobe Flash Player , Java or other runtime software , or software that runs online all the time .
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 .
The city has spent the past two weeks restoring online services disruptedAttack.Ransomby ransomware that held encrypted data hostage . Soon after Atlanta City Auditor Amanda Noble logged onto her work computer the morning of March 22 , she knew something was wrong . The icons on her desktop looked different—in some cases replaced with black rectangles—and she noticed many of the files on her desktop had been renamed with “ weapologize ” or “ imsorry ” extensions . Noble called the city ’ s chief information security officer to report the problem and left a message . Next , she called the help desk and was put on hold for a while . “ At that point , I realized that I wasn ’ t the only one in the office with computer problems , ” Noble says . Those computer problems were part of a high-profile “ransomware” cyberattackAttack.Ransomon the City of Atlanta that has lasted nearly two weeks and has yet to be fully resolved . During that time the metropolis has struggled to recover encrypted data on employees ’ computers and restore services on the municipal Web site . The criminals initially gave the city seven days to payAttack.Ransomabout $ 51,000 in the cryptocurrency bitcoin to get the decryption key for their data . That deadline came and went last week , yet several services remain offline , suggesting the city likely did not pay the ransomAttack.Ransom. City officials would not comment on the matter when contacted by Scientific American . The Department of Watershed Management , for example , still can not accept online or telephone payments for water and sewage bills , nor can the Department of Finance issue business licenses through its Web page . The Atlanta Municipal Court has been unable to process ticket payments either online or in person due to the outage and has had to reschedule some of its hearings . The city took down two of its online services voluntarily as a security precaution : the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport wi-fi network and the ability to process service requests via the city ’ s 311 Web site portal , according to Anne Torres , Atlanta ’ s director of communications . Both are now back online , with airport wi-fi restored Tuesday morning . The ransomware used to attack Atlanta is called SamSam . Like most malicious software it typically enters computer networks through software whose security protections have not been updated . When attackers findVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityvulnerabilities in a network , they use the ransomware to encrypt files there and demand paymentAttack.Ransomto unlock them . Earlier this year attackers used a derivative of SamSam to lock up files at Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield , Ind . The health care institution paidAttack.Ransomnearly $ 50,000 to retrieve patient data . “ The SamSam ransomware used to attackAttack.RansomAtlanta is interesting because it gets into a network and spreads to multiple computers before locking them up , ” says Jake Williams , founder of computer security firm Rendition Infosec . “ The victim then has greater incentive to pay a larger ransomAttack.Ransomin order to regain control of that network of locked computers. ” The city ’ s technology department—Atlanta Information Management ( AIM ) —contacted local law enforcement , along with the FBI , Department of Homeland Security , Secret Service and independent forensic experts to help assess the damage and investigate the attack . The attackers set upAttack.Ransoman online payment portal for the city but soon took the site offline after a local television station published a screen shot of the ransom note , which included a link to the bitcoin wallet meant to collect the ransomAttack.Ransom. Several clues indicate Atlanta likely did not payAttack.Ransomthe attackers , Williams says . “ Ransomware gangs typically cut off communications once their victims get law enforcement involved , ” he says . “ Atlanta made it clear at a press conference soon after the malware was detected ” that they had done so . The length of time it has taken to slowly bring services back online also suggests the cyber criminals abandoned Atlanta without decrypting the city ’ s files , Williams says . “ If that ’ s the case , the city ’ s IT staff spent the past week rebuilding Atlanta ’ s online systems using backed-up data that had not been hitAttack.Ransomby the ransomware , ” he says , adding that any data not backed up is likely “ lost for good. ” “ If the city had paid the ransomAttack.Ransom, I would have expected them to bring up systems more quickly than they have done , ” says Justin Cappos , a professor of computer science and engineering at New York University ’ s Tandon School of Engineering . “ Assuming the city did not pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, their ability to recover their systems at all shows that they at least did a good job backing up their data . ”
The city has spent the past two weeks restoring online services disruptedAttack.Ransomby ransomware that held encrypted data hostage . Soon after Atlanta City Auditor Amanda Noble logged onto her work computer the morning of March 22 , she knew something was wrong . The icons on her desktop looked different—in some cases replaced with black rectangles—and she noticed many of the files on her desktop had been renamed with “ weapologize ” or “ imsorry ” extensions . Noble called the city ’ s chief information security officer to report the problem and left a message . Next , she called the help desk and was put on hold for a while . “ At that point , I realized that I wasn ’ t the only one in the office with computer problems , ” Noble says . Those computer problems were part of a high-profile “ransomware” cyberattackAttack.Ransomon the City of Atlanta that has lasted nearly two weeks and has yet to be fully resolved . During that time the metropolis has struggled to recover encrypted data on employees ’ computers and restore services on the municipal Web site . The criminals initially gave the city seven days to payAttack.Ransomabout $ 51,000 in the cryptocurrency bitcoin to get the decryption key for their data . That deadline came and went last week , yet several services remain offline , suggesting the city likely did not pay the ransomAttack.Ransom. City officials would not comment on the matter when contacted by Scientific American . The Department of Watershed Management , for example , still can not accept online or telephone payments for water and sewage bills , nor can the Department of Finance issue business licenses through its Web page . The Atlanta Municipal Court has been unable to process ticket payments either online or in person due to the outage and has had to reschedule some of its hearings . The city took down two of its online services voluntarily as a security precaution : the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport wi-fi network and the ability to process service requests via the city ’ s 311 Web site portal , according to Anne Torres , Atlanta ’ s director of communications . Both are now back online , with airport wi-fi restored Tuesday morning . The ransomware used to attack Atlanta is called SamSam . Like most malicious software it typically enters computer networks through software whose security protections have not been updated . When attackers findVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityvulnerabilities in a network , they use the ransomware to encrypt files there and demand paymentAttack.Ransomto unlock them . Earlier this year attackers used a derivative of SamSam to lock up files at Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield , Ind . The health care institution paidAttack.Ransomnearly $ 50,000 to retrieve patient data . “ The SamSam ransomware used to attackAttack.RansomAtlanta is interesting because it gets into a network and spreads to multiple computers before locking them up , ” says Jake Williams , founder of computer security firm Rendition Infosec . “ The victim then has greater incentive to pay a larger ransomAttack.Ransomin order to regain control of that network of locked computers. ” The city ’ s technology department—Atlanta Information Management ( AIM ) —contacted local law enforcement , along with the FBI , Department of Homeland Security , Secret Service and independent forensic experts to help assess the damage and investigate the attack . The attackers set upAttack.Ransoman online payment portal for the city but soon took the site offline after a local television station published a screen shot of the ransom note , which included a link to the bitcoin wallet meant to collect the ransomAttack.Ransom. Several clues indicate Atlanta likely did not payAttack.Ransomthe attackers , Williams says . “ Ransomware gangs typically cut off communications once their victims get law enforcement involved , ” he says . “ Atlanta made it clear at a press conference soon after the malware was detected ” that they had done so . The length of time it has taken to slowly bring services back online also suggests the cyber criminals abandoned Atlanta without decrypting the city ’ s files , Williams says . “ If that ’ s the case , the city ’ s IT staff spent the past week rebuilding Atlanta ’ s online systems using backed-up data that had not been hitAttack.Ransomby the ransomware , ” he says , adding that any data not backed up is likely “ lost for good. ” “ If the city had paid the ransomAttack.Ransom, I would have expected them to bring up systems more quickly than they have done , ” says Justin Cappos , a professor of computer science and engineering at New York University ’ s Tandon School of Engineering . “ Assuming the city did not pay the ransomAttack.Ransom, their ability to recover their systems at all shows that they at least did a good job backing up their data . ”
The ransomware is linked to a leaked vulnerability originally kept by the National Security Agency . Major corporations across the world have been hitAttack.Ransomby a wave of ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomthat encrypt computers and then demandAttack.Ransomthat users payAttack.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 attackAttack.Ransomthat 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 attackAttack.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 issuedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya 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 addressedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilityby 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 .
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 .
MONTREAL—On Sept 10 , municipal employees in a region between Montreal and Quebec City arrived at work to discover a threatening message on their computers notifyingAttack.Ransomthem they were locked out of all their files . In order to regain access to its data , the regional municipality of Mekinac was told to depositAttack.Ransomeight units of the digital currency Bitcoin into a bank account — roughly equivalent to $ 65,000 . Mekinac ’ s IT department eventually negotiatedAttack.Ransomthe cyber extortionists down and paidAttack.Ransom$ 30,000 in Bitcoin , but not before the region ’ s servers were disabled for about two weeks . The attack highlights the inability of many small municipalities to adequately protect their data , but also the lack of guidance on cybersecurity provided to them by the Quebec government , according to Prof. Jose Fernandez , a malware expert at Montreal ’ s Polytechnique engineering school . “ Quebec is an embarrassment , ” Fernandez said in an interview , adding that he has tried without success to contact government representatives to alert them to the problem . “ There hasn ’ t been any traction on this issue in the past 15 years , ” he said . “ I try to speak to ( the government ) but there is nobody . Who are you going to call ? Nobody. ” Bernard Thompson , reeve for the Mekinac regional municipality , said the ransom demandAttack.Ransompresented a real dilemma for his small organization . Mekinac groups together 10 municipalities with a population of roughly 13,000 people . “ It was hard , clearly , on the moral side of things that we had to pay a bunch of bandits , ” Thompson said . Mekinac ’ s attackers used malicious software — known as malware or ransomware — to demand moneyAttack.Ransomin return for keys to unlock the data . Fernandez said it is ironic that Quebec is home to a thriving cybersecurity industry and is an emerging hub for artificial-intelligence research , yet the provincial government is “ decades ” behind other provinces in defending against cyberattacks . Still , Quebec is not the only province experiencing attacks . Several municipal governments and businesses in Ontario were recently hit by ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom, prompting the Ontario Provincial Police to issue an advisory in September . In response to the growing problem , Communications Security Establishment — the Defence Department ’ s electronic intelligence agency — launched the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security last month . It is responsible for monitoring “ new forms of ransomware ” and advising the federal and provincial governments . Spokesman Evan Koronewski said the centre has no provincial or territorial equivalent . Fernandez , however , notes that some provinces are taking significant steps . British Columbia and New Brunswick have established offices dedicated to protecting government data . Meanwhile in Quebec , he said , small towns are left unprotected . “ I ’ m hoping the new government does something about it , ” he said . Patrick Harvey , spokesman for the Public Security Department , disputed the claim the provincial government is unprepared for cyberattacks . He said the Treasury Department has a director of information responsible for ensuring government data is protected . The Public Security Department has a unit dedicated to responding to cyberattacks within the administration and provincial police . But municipalities are not part of the unit ’ s mandate . “ Municipalities are autonomous entities that are responsible for ensuring the security of their digital infrastructure , ” Harvey said . Mekinac ’ s servers were compromised after an employee opened and clicked on a link in a fraudulent email sentAttack.Phishingby the hackers . Once opened , the malware was downloaded onto the computer , giving the hackers access to the entire network . The hackers then encrypted all the data and held it hostage until they receivedAttack.Ransomtheir bitcoins . Once a system ’ s data is encrypted , it ’ s virtually impossible to crack the code without a key — and there is nothing police can do about it . Most professional criminals use commercial grade encryption and to locate a key to decrypt data would take “ astronomical effort in terms of computing , ” Fernandez said . “ You either payAttack.Ransomor you don ’ t get the data. ” The identity and location of Mekinac ’ s hackers were never discovered . Thompson said police seized some of his computers for analysis and told his office not to negotiate or payAttack.Ransomthe criminals . But Thompson said his region couldn ’ t heed that advice , because it would have meant months of data re-entry , costing significantly more than $ 30,000 . So they paidAttack.Ransom, got their data back and learned a valuable lesson . “ In the end , in terms of the security of our system , ( the attack ) was actually positive , ” Thompson said . A local cybersecurity company — for $ 10,000 a year — helped the regional municipality build firewalls and encrypt its own data . “ We are practically no longer vulnerable , ” Thompson said . “ Everything is encrypted now . Every email is analyzed before we even receive it. ” He warns that small towns across the province are just as susceptible to attack as his region was . “ Every day , our system catches malicious emails trying to penetrate — but they are stopped , ” he said . “ But the attacks keep coming . ”
MONTREAL—On Sept 10 , municipal employees in a region between Montreal and Quebec City arrived at work to discover a threatening message on their computers notifyingAttack.Ransomthem they were locked out of all their files . In order to regain access to its data , the regional municipality of Mekinac was told to depositAttack.Ransomeight units of the digital currency Bitcoin into a bank account — roughly equivalent to $ 65,000 . Mekinac ’ s IT department eventually negotiatedAttack.Ransomthe cyber extortionists down and paidAttack.Ransom$ 30,000 in Bitcoin , but not before the region ’ s servers were disabled for about two weeks . The attack highlights the inability of many small municipalities to adequately protect their data , but also the lack of guidance on cybersecurity provided to them by the Quebec government , according to Prof. Jose Fernandez , a malware expert at Montreal ’ s Polytechnique engineering school . “ Quebec is an embarrassment , ” Fernandez said in an interview , adding that he has tried without success to contact government representatives to alert them to the problem . “ There hasn ’ t been any traction on this issue in the past 15 years , ” he said . “ I try to speak to ( the government ) but there is nobody . Who are you going to call ? Nobody. ” Bernard Thompson , reeve for the Mekinac regional municipality , said the ransom demandAttack.Ransompresented a real dilemma for his small organization . Mekinac groups together 10 municipalities with a population of roughly 13,000 people . “ It was hard , clearly , on the moral side of things that we had to pay a bunch of bandits , ” Thompson said . Mekinac ’ s attackers used malicious software — known as malware or ransomware — to demand moneyAttack.Ransomin return for keys to unlock the data . Fernandez said it is ironic that Quebec is home to a thriving cybersecurity industry and is an emerging hub for artificial-intelligence research , yet the provincial government is “ decades ” behind other provinces in defending against cyberattacks . Still , Quebec is not the only province experiencing attacks . Several municipal governments and businesses in Ontario were recently hit by ransomware attacksAttack.Ransom, prompting the Ontario Provincial Police to issue an advisory in September . In response to the growing problem , Communications Security Establishment — the Defence Department ’ s electronic intelligence agency — launched the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security last month . It is responsible for monitoring “ new forms of ransomware ” and advising the federal and provincial governments . Spokesman Evan Koronewski said the centre has no provincial or territorial equivalent . Fernandez , however , notes that some provinces are taking significant steps . British Columbia and New Brunswick have established offices dedicated to protecting government data . Meanwhile in Quebec , he said , small towns are left unprotected . “ I ’ m hoping the new government does something about it , ” he said . Patrick Harvey , spokesman for the Public Security Department , disputed the claim the provincial government is unprepared for cyberattacks . He said the Treasury Department has a director of information responsible for ensuring government data is protected . The Public Security Department has a unit dedicated to responding to cyberattacks within the administration and provincial police . But municipalities are not part of the unit ’ s mandate . “ Municipalities are autonomous entities that are responsible for ensuring the security of their digital infrastructure , ” Harvey said . Mekinac ’ s servers were compromised after an employee opened and clicked on a link in a fraudulent email sentAttack.Phishingby the hackers . Once opened , the malware was downloaded onto the computer , giving the hackers access to the entire network . The hackers then encrypted all the data and held it hostage until they receivedAttack.Ransomtheir bitcoins . Once a system ’ s data is encrypted , it ’ s virtually impossible to crack the code without a key — and there is nothing police can do about it . Most professional criminals use commercial grade encryption and to locate a key to decrypt data would take “ astronomical effort in terms of computing , ” Fernandez said . “ You either payAttack.Ransomor you don ’ t get the data. ” The identity and location of Mekinac ’ s hackers were never discovered . Thompson said police seized some of his computers for analysis and told his office not to negotiate or payAttack.Ransomthe criminals . But Thompson said his region couldn ’ t heed that advice , because it would have meant months of data re-entry , costing significantly more than $ 30,000 . So they paidAttack.Ransom, got their data back and learned a valuable lesson . “ In the end , in terms of the security of our system , ( the attack ) was actually positive , ” Thompson said . A local cybersecurity company — for $ 10,000 a year — helped the regional municipality build firewalls and encrypt its own data . “ We are practically no longer vulnerable , ” Thompson said . “ Everything is encrypted now . Every email is analyzed before we even receive it. ” He warns that small towns across the province are just as susceptible to attack as his region was . “ Every day , our system catches malicious emails trying to penetrate — but they are stopped , ” he said . “ But the attacks keep coming . ”
Files that were scrambled in a ransomware attackAttack.Ransomon Hāwera High School in Taranaki included school assessments that students had only partly completed as well as backups , principal Rachel Williams has confirmed . More help is on the way for schools battling ransomware and other malware , but it has come a little late for the school which is being held to ransomAttack.Ransomfor US $ 5000 by hackers . N4L , the Crown-owned company that manages the provision of broadband to schools , said it would improve online security as part of a wider upgrade of its managed network that is due to be completed by October next year . The 2450 schools and 800,000 students on the network will get a new security solution supplied by Californian company Fortinet which would provide `` more robust protection against online threats , such as phishingAttack.Phishingand ransomware '' , it said in a statement issued on Monday . Ironically , that was the same day that staff at Hāwera High School switched on their computers to discover the message demandingAttack.RansomUS $ 5000 ( NZ $ 7352 ) in bitcoin for the return of encrypted data on a server containing students ' work and teaching resources . Hāwera High School is connected to ultrafast broadband via N4L , but N4L chief executive Larrie Moore said the school had opted out of N4L 's existing security solution and was instead using an alternative commercial offering . `` We 've been in touch with the school and their IT company to offer our support , '' he said . `` Until we know how the school 's network was compromised , we are unable to say whether the new Fortinet solution would have prevented it , '' he said . But Moore said there was no `` silver bullet '' for malware . Instead , technological protections needed to be used in combination with `` continuous education around good digital citizenship '' , he said . Williams said many of its students and teachers had backed up their files in the cloud and were not affected by the ransomware attackAttack.Ransom, but backups stored on servers at the school were also encrypted by the hackers . `` We have been working today on getting a clearer audit of student and staff work and where we are at . Some students are really not affected at all because they have saved their work on their cloud-based system . `` If students were part-way through an assessment , some of those are the ones that are encrypted and we ca n't access those at the moment . '' The school was working with NZQA to make sure those students were not disadvantaged , she said . Others had backups of their work at home , she said . Williams was not sure how the malware had arrived at the school , saying that was still being investigated . The Government is not believed to have any rules on whether state-funded organisations such as schools can pay ransomsAttack.Ransom, but in 2017 it issued advice against it and Williams said the school would follow police advice not to payAttack.Ransom. While the incident had been annoying , `` you see people 's character come through and we 've seen real resilience from our staff and students '' , Williams said . `` It is not stopping us doing what we need to do . '' N4L said its technology upgrade would be the first major refresh of its network since it began connecting schools with ultrafast broadband at the end of 2013 . Its existing security system had blocked more than 118,000 viruses and malware threats so far during this school year , it said .
East Ohio Regional Hospital in Harper 's Ferry , Ohio , and Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling , West Virginia , both got affected by ransomware on the last weekend of November . [ 1 ] Due to this incident , ambulance patients were transported to other hospitals nearby and emergency room admissions were limited to walk-up patients only . Due to attack , employees needed to switch to paper charting and various systems were taken offline immediately . This fairly quick response limited the ransomware damage and prevented the possible data breachAttack.Databreach. [ 2 ] According to Karin Janiszewski , director of marketing and public relations for EORH and OVMC , hospitals reacted as soon as possible and , at the moment of writing , they are already using the computer network . On the following Saturday , Karin Janiszewski stated : There has been no patient information breachAttack.Databreach. The hospitals are switching to paper charting to ensure patient data protection . We have redundant security , so the attack was able to get through the first layer but not the second layer . IT staff dealt with the outbreak to avoid a data breachAttack.DatabreachWhen it comes to malware attacks on large companies , the lossAttack.Databreachof personal customer data is the worst thing that can happen . It seems that this time the situation was handled quick enough to prevent having the sensitive data being compromisedAttack.Databreach. IT team took several computers offline , and , because of this , most of the clinical operations transferred to other units , and emergency patients were automatically taken to different locations . On Saturday , when the incidents occurred , hospital officials stated that the staff is ready to take everything on paper until the downtime is over . Also , since this is a ransomware-type malware attackAttack.Ransom, hackers demand a ransomAttack.Ransom. However , officials did not select the scenario involving making the paymentAttack.Ransom. No matter how big or how little the ransom demandAttack.Ransomis , officials should n't even consider making the paymentAttack.Ransombecause it may lead to system damage or permanent data loss . [ 3 ] In the United States , data breachesAttack.Databreachand malware attacks on huge organizations have become a common thing , especially in the healthcare industry . In 2016 Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital paid the demanded ransomAttack.Ransomin Bitcoin after having its data encrypted . [ 4 ] The infection was widespread and the attackAttack.Ransomcost around $ 17 000 . Another incident that resulted in ransom paymentAttack.Ransomwas spotted in Kansas Heart Hospital in 2016 also . Unfortunately , after the payment was madeAttack.Ransom, attackers disappeared ignoring the promise to decrypt locked files . They send yet another ransom demandAttack.Ransominstead and asked forAttack.Ransoma bigger amount of money . Previously this year , the Indiana-based hospital got infected with SamSam which is an infamous ransomware virus which has been relying on specific infection tactics which is highly personalized . After considering different scenarios , the hospital decided to payAttack.Ransom4 BTC ( equal to $ 45 000 at that time ) for ransomware developers to get private keys needed for files ' recovery . Ransomware developers gave what they promised .
`` There have not been any breachesAttack.Databreachin any of Apple 's systems including iCloud and Apple ID , '' an Apple representative said in an emailed statement . `` The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtainedAttack.Databreachfrom previously compromisedAttack.Databreachthird-party services . '' A group calling itself the Turkish Crime Family claims to have login credentials for more than 750 million icloud.com , me.com and mac.com email addresses , and the group says more than 250 million of those credentials provide access to iCloud accounts that do n't have two-factor authentication turned on . The hackers want Apple to payAttack.Ransom$ 700,000 -- $ 100,000 per group member -- or `` $ 1 million worth in iTunes vouchers . '' Otherwise , they threaten to start wiping data from iCloud accounts and devices linked to them on April 7 . In a message published on Pastebin Thursday , the group said it also asked forAttack.Ransomother things from Apple , but they do n't want to make public . `` We 're actively monitoring to prevent unauthorized access to user accounts and are working with law enforcement to identify the criminals involved , '' the Apple representative said . `` To protect against these type of attacks , we recommend that users always use strong passwords , not use those same passwords across sites and turn on two-factor authentication . '' However , the unusually high numbers advanced by the group are hard to believe . It 's also hard to keep up with the group 's claims , as at various times over the past few days , it has released conflicting or incomplete information that it has later revised or clarified . The group claims that it started out with a database of more than 500 million credentials that it has put together over the past few years by extractingAttack.Databreachthe icloud.com , me.com and mac.com accounts from stolen databases its members have soldAttack.Databreachon the black market . The hackers also claim that since they 've made their ransomAttack.Ransomrequest public a few days ago , others have joined in their effort and shared even more credentials with them , putting the number at more than 750 million . The group claims to be using 1 million high-quality proxy servers to verify how many of the credentials give them access to unprotected iCloud accounts . Apple provides two-factor authentication for iCloud , and accounts with the option turned on are protected even if their password is compromisedAttack.Databreach. The latest number of accessible iCloud accounts advanced by the Turkish Crime Family is 250 million . That 's an impressive ratio of one in every three tested accounts . The largest ever data breachAttack.Databreachwas from Yahoo with a reported 1 billion accounts . `` At best they ’ ve got some reused credentials , but I wouldn ’ t be surprised if it ’ s almost entirely a hoax . '' Hunt has n't seen the actual data that the Turkish Crime Family claims to have , and there is n't much evidence aside from a YouTube video showing a few dozen email addresses and plain text passwords . However , he has significant experience with validating data breachesAttack.Databreachand has seen many bogus hacker claims over the years . To be on the safe side , users should follow Apple 's advice and create a strong password for their account and turn on two-factor authentication or two-step verification at the very least
Security experts say they are skeptical that a group of hackers called Turkish Crime Family actually possess a cache of hundreds of millions of Apple iCloud account credentials . A more plausible explanation , they say , is that crooks used credential stuffing attacks to amass a limited number of valid Apple usernames and passwords in attempt to extort moneyAttack.Ransomfrom Apple . Earlier this week , the group identifying itself as the Turkish Crime Family claimed to have a database of 750 million iCloud.com , me.com and mac.com email addresses and credentials . “ There have not been any breachesAttack.Databreachin any of Apple ’ s systems including iCloud and Apple ID , ” Apple said in a statement . “ The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtainedAttack.Databreachfrom previously compromisedAttack.Databreachthird-party services ” . Hackers behind the claim are demandingAttack.RansomApple payAttack.Ransomthem $ 75,000 in cryptocurrency or giveAttack.Ransomthem $ 100,000 in iTunes vouchers , according to reports . If demands are not met by April 7 , the group said it will begin deleting data stored on iCloud accounts en masse . An independent analysis of 54 samples of the breached account data provided to ZDNet by the hackers were valid . However , security experts such as Troy Hunt , who runs the data breach repository HaveIBeenPwned.com , still isn ’ t convinced . Hunt told Threatpost he suspects the hack is a hoax , admitting he has not seen the any samples of the breached data . “ It ’ s entirely possible whoever is behind this could have username and password pairs that work on a limited number of Apple accounts in just the same way as re-used credentials will work across all sorts of other accounts , ” Hunt said . He said the Turkish Crime Family likely has a far smaller pool of valid Apple credentials than it claims . Shuman Ghosemajumder , CTO of the firm Shape Security told Threatpost he suspects the hackers may have used credential stuffing attacks , using data from previous breaches , to gain access to an undetermined number of iCloud accounts . Shape Security estimates that last year alone 3.3 billion credentials were exposedAttack.Databreachvia breaches . Despite credential stuffing ’ s low success rate of 1 percent to 2 percent , Ghosemajumder said , when applied to a large enough cache of data ( purchased on the dark web by the database ) the hackers may have enough information to successfully crack thousands of Apple accounts . “ There are certainly enough credentials spilled onto the internet to think someone could use credential stuffing techniques to pull together a convincing number of valid accounts in attempt to extortAttack.RansomApple for ransom moneyAttack.Ransom, ” Ghosemajumder said . Patrick Wardle , director of research at Synack , echoed the same credential theory suggesting that breachesAttack.Databreachover the past year have given hackers ample opportunity to pull together some valid iCloud account credentials . Since approaching Apple earlier this month with its demands , the Turkish Crime Family has been inconsistent about how many account credentials it allegedly possesses . Speaking to various different media outlets , the group has said it had 200 million credentials to as many as 750 million . The hacking group said that its repository isn ’ t the result of one breach , rather multiple . On Thursday , the group claimed to have a database of 750 million credentials , 250 million of which are “ checked and working , ” according to the group . Meanwhile , Apple says it ’ s actively monitoring to prevent unauthorized access to user accounts and is working with law enforcement to identify the criminals behind the Turkish Crime Family extortion schemeAttack.Ransom.
Now , more than ever , a recent report suggests that India ranks second in ransomware attacksAttack.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 schemesAttack.Ransomin 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 paidAttack.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 instructAttack.Ransomvictims to payAttack.Ransomthrough Bitcoin , MoneyPak or other online methods , attackers could also demandAttack.Ransomcredit 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 ransomAttack.Ransom, it ’ s a virtual kidnappingAttack.Ransomof data where information is kept as a hostage and money is demandedAttack.Ransomin exchange of freeing the hostage . We all know how much damage a data breachAttack.Databreachcan cost- monetarily as well as reputation wise . Once a ransomware attackAttack.Ransomstrikes , clicking of files yield no results . The malware has corruptedAttack.Databreachthe 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 ransomAttack.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
A group calling itself XMR Squad has spent all last week launching DDoS attacks against German businesses and then contacting the same companies to inform them they had to payAttack.Ransom€250 ( $ 275 ) for `` testing their DDoS protection systems . '' German DDoS protection firm Link11 reported attacks against DHL , Hermes , AldiTalk , Freenet , Snipes.com , the State Bureau of Investigation Lower Saxony , and the website of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . The attackAttack.Ransomagainst DHL Germany was particularly effective as it shut down the company 's business customer portal and all APIs , prompting eBay Germany to issue an alert regarding possible issues with packages sent via DHL . `` They seem to know what to hit , '' said Daniel Smith , security researcher for Radware , and one of the persons currently keeping tabs of the attacks . The group sent emails to all the companies it targeted . In the emails , they did n't ask for a ransomAttack.Ransomto stop the attacksAttack.Ransom, but a fee for having already carried out what they called a DDoS protection test . Usually , these types of groups launch DDoS attacks and then send emails to their victims requesting for paymentsAttack.Ransomto stop the attacksAttack.Ransom. XMR Squad 's emails looked like invoices for unrequested DDoS tests . Furthermore , the ransom note did n't include payment instructions , which is weird , to say the least . DDoS ransomsAttack.Ransomare usually handled in Bitcoin or another anonymous cryptocurrency . It was strange to see the group ask for paymentAttack.Ransomin Euros , as the group 's name included the term XMR , the shortname for Monero , an anonymous cryptocurrency . While the group advertised on Twitter that their location was in Russia , a German reporter who spoke with the group via telephone said `` the caller had a slight accent , but spoke perfect German . '' To the same reporter , the group also claimed they carried out the attacks only to get public attention . The attention they got was n't the one they expected , as their hosting provider took down their website , located at xmr-squad.biz . Germany , in particular , has been the target of several DDoS blackmailers in the past year . In January and February , a group calling itself Stealth Ravens launched DDoS-for-Bitcoin ransom attacksAttack.Ransom. Link11 , who tracked those attacksAttack.Ransom, claimed the group used a DDoS botnet built with the Mirai IoT malware and asked forAttack.Ransom5 Bitcoin ( $ 6,000 ) to stop attacksAttack.Ransom. Last year in June , another group named Kadyrovtsy also targeted German businesses , launching attacksAttack.Ransomof up to 50 Gbps . This group began DDoS ransom attacksAttack.Ransoma month earlier by first targeting Polish banks . All these groups are following the same modus operandi perfected by groups like DD4BC and Armada Collective . These two groups appeared in the summer and autumn of 2015 and targeted companies worldwide . In January 2016 , Europol arrested suspects believed to be DD4BC members in Bosnia and Herzegovina . Following the arrests , both groups became inactive . After the demise of these two main groups , there was a wave of copycats [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ] that used their respective reputation to extort paymentsAttack.Ransomfrom companies , in many cases without even possessing any DDoS capabilities .
Over the weekend , a hacker known as TheDarkOverlord resurfaced and released the first episode of season five for `` Orange is the New Black '' a popular show on Netflix that is n't slated to air until June . A short time later , TheDarkOverlord released episodes 2 though 10 , along with a warning to other Hollywood studios – you 're next . The media jumped on the story . Netflix would n't confirm or deny the leakedAttack.Databreachepisodes were legitimate , stating that proper law enforcement had been notified , and that a company used by several TV studios `` had its security compromised . '' The company in question , Larson Studios , does audio post-production work for a number of shows and films , including NCIS Los Angeles , Designated Survivor , and Arrested Development . According to Larson Studios , they 've done work for FOX , Netflix , ABC , NBC , IFC , Showtime , and more . As word of Netflix 's security problem started to spread , news outlets starting comparing the incident to the Sony Pictures hack and the medical hacks over the last few years . While there are some comparisons to be made , they 're not the same type of threat . Netflix did n't have a Ransomware incident , and neither did Larson Studios . Their files were stolenAttack.Databreach, not encrypted . Ransomware encrypts the files on a computer and renders them useless . Victims can recover the files if they pay a fee (ransom)Attack.Ransom, or they can try and recover the files from backups . According to TheDarkOverlord , Larson Studios was targeted because they were a post-production company . Late last year , TheDarkOverlord hackedAttack.DatabreachLarson Studios and downloadedAttack.Databreachan unknown number of files . Plenty of reporters knew TheDarkOverlord had targeted Hollywood , but until this weekend there was never any proof . Fast forward a few months . When Larson Studios did n't comply with the extortion demandsAttack.Ransom, TheDarkOverlord turned their attention to Netflix . When Netflix refused to payAttack.Ransom, season five ( minus three episodes ) of `` Orange is the New Black '' was released for download . `` It did n't have to be this way , Netflix . You 're going to lose a lot more money in all of this than what our modest offer was . 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 , '' TheDarkOverlord wrote in a statement . Netflix surpassed $ 2.5 billion in quarterly streaming revenue in Q1 2017 , and added five million members to their subscriber base . While having one of their popular series leakedAttack.Databreachto the web is n't exactly helpful , it is n't clear if there will be any financial impact from this incident . Once again , extortion and Ransomware are two separate things . Netflix and Larson Studios are (were) being extortedAttack.Ransom, they were not infected with Ransomware and have complete accessAttack.Databreachto their files . However , there is a lesson to be learned . Third-parties are always going to pose a risk to any organization , and this is certainly the case in Hollywood where secrecy and suspense are key to their business model .
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 .
The 'WannaCrypt ' ransomware has been a worldwide dilemma , impacting many countries . Luckily , the malware only impacts older versions of Microsoft 's operating system -- Windows 10 is not vulnerable . Also immune to WannaCrypt is macOS and Linux distributions . Unfortunately , many people run older versions of Windows , but Microsoft has been very active in issuingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitypatches for them -- including for the now-unsupported XP . Patches aside , security software can protect vulnerable computers too . In fact , today , Symantec announces that it has successfully blocked almost 22 million WannaCrypt attacksAttack.Ransom. The company even leveraged machine learning in its fight against the ransomware . The company explains that it , `` blocked nearly 22 million WannaCry infection attempts across 300,000 endpoints , providing full protection for Symantec customers through its advanced exploit protection technology . The WannaCry ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomtargeted and affected users in various countries across the globe by encrypting data files on infected computers and demandingAttack.Ransomusers payAttack.Ransoma $ 300USD ransomAttack.Ransomin bitcoin to decrypt their files . The protection of Symantec customers was enabled in part due to the integration of real-time threat intelligence shared across both Symantec Endpoint Protection and the Blue Coat ProxySG , which provided real-time threat awareness across the endpoint , network and cloud . '' Mike Fey , president and chief operating officer at Symantec explains , `` The WannaCry ransomware attackAttack.Ransomis the largest we 've ever seen of its kind and we 're pleased to share that Symantec customers benefited from multiple layers of protection even before it happened , through innovations and new capabilities in our Integrated Cyber Defense Platform . Our proactive network protection and advanced machine learning technologies provided real-time , zero-day , protection for all SEP and Norton customers when WannaCry was released last week . And , our Global Intelligence Network automatically shares WannaCry intelligence between Symantec endpoint , email and Blue Coat network products , providing full protection across all control points , including the cloud . '' While Symantec 's announcement highlights the importance of security software for both home and business users , it should n't distract from the fact that it is also imperative to apply operating system updates in a timely matter . Also important is using supported software . Yes , Microsoft patchedVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitythe unsupported Windows XP , but that OS should really not even be in use anymore .
Since last Friday , over 200,000 victims in 150 countries have been hitAttack.Ransomby a massive , international ransomware cyberattackAttack.Ransomcalled WannaCry . Ransomware is a type of malware that works by seizing control of and blocking access to a computer ’ s files , programs , and operations . Users are then informed that they must payAttack.Ransoma certain amount in order to regain access to their files , with the threat of permanently losing all of their data if they choose not to payAttack.Ransom. In the WannaCry attackAttack.Ransom, users were given three days to make the paymentAttack.Ransombefore the fee increased , and seven days before the files would be lost forever . The massive scope and potential financial impact of the WannaCry attackAttack.Ransomhas understandably caused a lot of panic , and companies and individuals alike have been rushing to protect their devices . However , this frenzy has opened up new damaging routes for fraud . One of these attack routes is through mobile applications that have been found on third-party application stores . There are various mobile applications advertising that they can be used to protect users from the WannaCry ransomware . However , our analysts found that some of these apps contained adware meant to infect the devices they are downloaded onto . Rather than protecting users ’ devices , they are causing them harm . The adware found is classified as Adware.mobidash , which is a module that attackers used to include into Android games and apps and monetize them . This adware has the capability to load webpages with ads , show other messages in the status bar , and modify the DNS server . This is quite dangerous as the real risk lies in the fact that the end user ’ s device is performing unwanted activity without their authorization . To hide this dangerous behavior , the adware doesn ’ t start to perform its malicious activity immediately ; instead , it lies latent in the device before activating after a short period of time . We have blogged a lot about digital trust , fake news , and all sorts of tricksAttack.Phishingthat criminals use to get the attention of consumers to get them to click on a link . Yet we continue to be amazed by how sophisticated the manipulation of the human factor has become . It will only be a matter of time until we see the WannaCry malware expand further to trickAttack.Phishingend users into installingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya patch that allegedly prevents the new massive ransomware attackAttack.Ransom. However , this time it will not be a patch , but a new version or variant of a financially motivated malware .
Since last Friday , over 200,000 victims in 150 countries have been hitAttack.Ransomby a massive , international ransomware cyberattackAttack.Ransomcalled WannaCry . Ransomware is a type of malware that works by seizing control of and blocking access to a computer ’ s files , programs , and operations . Users are then informed that they must payAttack.Ransoma certain amount in order to regain access to their files , with the threat of permanently losing all of their data if they choose not to payAttack.Ransom. In the WannaCry attackAttack.Ransom, users were given three days to make the paymentAttack.Ransombefore the fee increased , and seven days before the files would be lost forever . The massive scope and potential financial impact of the WannaCry attackAttack.Ransomhas understandably caused a lot of panic , and companies and individuals alike have been rushing to protect their devices . However , this frenzy has opened up new damaging routes for fraud . One of these attack routes is through mobile applications that have been found on third-party application stores . There are various mobile applications advertising that they can be used to protect users from the WannaCry ransomware . However , our analysts found that some of these apps contained adware meant to infect the devices they are downloaded onto . Rather than protecting users ’ devices , they are causing them harm . The adware found is classified as Adware.mobidash , which is a module that attackers used to include into Android games and apps and monetize them . This adware has the capability to load webpages with ads , show other messages in the status bar , and modify the DNS server . This is quite dangerous as the real risk lies in the fact that the end user ’ s device is performing unwanted activity without their authorization . To hide this dangerous behavior , the adware doesn ’ t start to perform its malicious activity immediately ; instead , it lies latent in the device before activating after a short period of time . We have blogged a lot about digital trust , fake news , and all sorts of tricksAttack.Phishingthat criminals use to get the attention of consumers to get them to click on a link . Yet we continue to be amazed by how sophisticated the manipulation of the human factor has become . It will only be a matter of time until we see the WannaCry malware expand further to trickAttack.Phishingend users into installingVulnerability-related.PatchVulnerabilitya patch that allegedly prevents the new massive ransomware attackAttack.Ransom. However , this time it will not be a patch , but a new version or variant of a financially motivated malware .
Files claiming to be the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie have leakedAttack.Databreachonline after Disney refused to meet hackers ' demandsAttack.Ransom. On 17 May , Softpedia 's Gabriela Vatu reported that two copies of Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Men Tell No Tales had appeared on the popular ( and somewhat appropriate ) BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay . `` According to the information unearthed thus far , the hackers managed to get accessAttack.Databreachto the systems of Larson Studios in Hollywood , a company that handles additional dialogue recorded for movies . It seems that the copies they 've managed to get their hands on are in various stages of production and not exactly what you 'd expect from a full cinema-ready release . '' News of the extortion attempt first appeared in The Hollywood Reporter on 15 May when Bob Iger , CEO at Walt Disney , revealed the hackers had demandedAttack.Ransomthat Disney payAttack.Ransoma `` huge sum '' in Bitcoins to prevent them from leaking a then-undisclosed movie online . At the time , the attackers said they would release the film incrementally to netizens , first publishing clips lasting only a few minutes and slowly building up to 20-minute segments . Iger said Disney decided to not payAttack.Ransomthe attackers and was working with federal law enforcement to investigate the theft of one of its productions . It 's unclear who exactly perpetrated the leakAttack.Databreach- if indeed the files really are of the movie . Even so , a potential candidate is The Dark Overlord , a group of hackers who released the fifth season of Orange Is the New Black after Netflix refused to meet its ransom demandsAttack.Ransomback in April 2017 . Around that time , the hacking gang , which has also extortedAttack.Ransomnon-film entities in the past , tweeted out that it had stolenAttack.Databreachcontent from a number of other media companies . It did not name Walt Disney by name , though it did point to FOX , ABC , and others . Who is next on the list ? FOX , IFC , NAT GEO , and ABC . Oh , what fun we 're all going to have . We 're not playing any games anymore . While Disney and Netflix continue to work with the FBI in tracking down The Dark Overlord , someone has already removed the two copies of what claimed to be the Pirates of the Caribbean film from The Pirate Bay . The hackers could release the movies again . Or they might be focusing on their next target . While movie-goers might celebrate a leak of the movie , media companies like Walt Disney do n't want viewers gaining early access to their content . That 's why organizations should take the opportunity to conduct some security awareness training with their employees . This effort should include phishingAttack.Phishingsimulations and reviewing the security readiness of companies along their supply chains . Article updated 19 May 2017 . None of the files made available as downloadable torrents have been confirmed to contain footage of the movie . For more discussion on the issue , make sure to listen to this recent episode of the `` Smashing Security '' podcast . Your browser does not support this audio element .