Amateur cybercriminals may be shifting towards targeting the healthcare sector using an off-the-shelf ransomware , according to security researchers at Forcepoint Security Labs . Forcepoint is an Austin , Texas-based cybersecurity software company and Roland Dela Paz , a senior security researcher at the company , detailed in a blog post that Forcepoint Security Labs has identified a ransomware-as-a-service ( RaaS ) platform , called Philadelphia , used in a cyber attack on a healthcare organization . “ In that attack Attack.Phishing , a shortened URL , which we believe was sent Attack.Phishing through a spear-phishing email , was used as a lure Attack.Phishing to infect a hospital from Oregon and Southwest Washington . Once a user clicks on the link , the site redirects to a personal storage site to download a malicious DOCX file , ” Dela Paz wrote . He noted that the document contained the targeted healthcare organization ’ s logo and a signature of a medical practitioner from that organization . Three document icons pertaining to patient information also were present in the file and , when the user double-clicks , a malicious Javascript is triggered which downloads and executes a variant of the Philadelphia ransomware . “ Believed to be a new version of the Stampado ransomware , Philadelphia is an unsophisticated ransomware kit sold for a few hundred dollars to anyone who can afford it . Recently , a video advertisement of Philadelphia surfaced on Youtube , ” he wrote . Dela Paz further wrote in the blog post , “ A few things in the malware captured our interest . Aside from the tailored bait against a specific healthcare organization , the encrypted JavaScript above contained a string “ hospitalspam ” in its directory path . Likewise , the ransomware C2 also contained “ hospital/spam ” in its path . Such wordings would imply that this is not an isolated case ; but that the actor behind the campaign is specifically targeting hospitals using spam ( spear phishing emails ) as a distribution method. ” He also noted that ransomware-as-a-service platforms such as Philadelphia continue to attract would-be cybercriminals to take part in the ransomware business . And , while this example represents only one healthcare organization that was targeted , the researcher noted that it could signify the beginning of a trend with smaller ransomware operators , using RaaS platforms , aiming for the healthcare sector , “ ultimately leading to even bigger and diversified ransomware attacks Attack.Ransom ” against the sector , he wrote .

As of June 2016 , more than 150 million active users interact with one another daily via Snapchat . Others are drawn by the service 's more recent features . Those include Snapcash , a method introduced for users to send mobile payments to their friends . Given the app 's popularity , it 's no wonder online criminals have set their sights on hacking users ' Snapchat accounts . For instance , back in late 2013 , a group of hackers published Attack.Databreach a database containing the usernames and phone numbers of approximately 4.6 million Snapchat users . Nefarious individuals could have used that information to profile targets across multiple web accounts . We also ca n't forget about the security incident Attack.Phishing that occurred back in February 2016 . In that attack Attack.Phishing , someone posed as Attack.Phishing the company 's CEO and convinced a Snapchat employee to send over payroll information . The successful phish ultimately compromised Attack.Databreach dozens of employees ' identities . To be fair , a mega breach on the scale of what affected LinkedIn , Tumblr , and Yahoo has yet to strike the messaging app . But that 's not to say criminals are n't trying to find a way into people 's accounts . Hackers clearly have Snapchat in their sights , which is why users need to learn how to spot the warning signs of a hack and how they can recover their accounts if someone compromises them .