. The authorities dismissed the ransom demandAttack.Ransomand decided to rebuild the affected systems . For two days , flight status information was displayed on whiteboards and there was an increase in announcements over the speakers . Similarly , in the last few months there have been several cyberattacks targeting hospitals , city administration and sporting events . The servers of the US-based PGA were reportedly hit by ransomwareAttack.Ransomattacks right before the PGA Championship in the first week of August . A new ransomware called Everlasting Blue Blackmail Virus , which targets Windows PCs using spam and phishing campaignsAttack.Phishing, flashes former US President Barrack Obama ’ s image with the ransom message . Once the ransomware gains entry into the system , its looks for all .exe ( executable ) files and encrypts them , preventing users from running apps until the ransom is paidAttack.Ransom. Hot on the heels of the cyberattackAttack.Ransomon the town of Valdez in Alaska , Canadian town Midland in Ontario was hit by a ransomware attackAttack.Ransomin the first week of September . Hackers broke into the city database involving fire , water , and waste management and blocked access , demanding ransomAttack.Ransom. A major concern for cybersecurity experts is the fileless attacks , which are hard to detect . These attacks do not install a malicious software to infiltrate a victim ’ s computer , which makes it difficult for anti-virus solutions to detect them . According to Ponemon Institute , 35 % of all cyberattacks in 2018 were fileless , while security solution provider Carbon Black claims that fileless attacks accounted for 50 % of all successful data breachesAttack.Databreachtargeting financial businesses . Fileless attacks target legitimate Windows tools such as PowerShell ( a scripting language which can provide hackers unrestricted access to Windows API ) and Windows Management Instrumentation ( used by admins ) . By latching on to these tools , hackers gain control over the PC and eventually the organization ’ s database . In another recent development , researchers at F-Secure have come across a new vulnerability affecting PCs . Dubbed as cold boot , the attack can be carried off using a special programme through a USB drive connected to a PC . Using the programme , the hacker can disable the memory overwriting by rebooting the system , without a proper shutdown . The attack can be used to break into company system which might have access to the company network .
The Onslow Water and Sewer Authority 's internal computer system , including servers and personal computers , was hit by a ransomware attackAttack.RansomSaturday . The utility said customer information was not compromisedAttack.Databreachin the attackAttack.Databreach, but many of databases will have to be recreated in their entirety . OWNASA said it is coordinating with the FBI , the Department of Homeland Security , the state of North Carolina , and several technology security companies in response to the attack . The safety of the public ’ s water supply and the area ’ s environment are not in danger , the utility said . ONWASA began experiencing persistent virus attacks from a polymorphic malware known as EMOTET on October 4 . The virus was thought to be under control , but when it persisted ONWASA brought in outside security specialists . The specialist continued to work the problem with ONWASA Information Technology ( IT ) staff . At what ONWASA officials said may have been a timed event , the malware launched a sophisticated virus known as RYUK at 3 a.m. on Saturday . An ONWASA IT staffer saw the attack and immediately disconnected ONWASA from the internet . However , the crypto-virus spread quickly along the network , encrypting databases and files . The attack is similar in nature to those experienced by Atlanta , Georgia and Mecklenburg County . lONWASA said it had mulitple layers of computer protection in place , including firewalls and malware/anti-virus software . The defenses of the computer systems at the main office were penetrated . ONWASA has received one email from the cybercriminals , who it said may be based in a foreign country . The email is consistent with ransomware attacksAttack.Ransomof other governments and corporations . OWNASA officials said ransom monies “ would be used to fund criminal , and perhaps terrorist activities in other countries . Furthermore , there is no expectation that payment of a ransomAttack.Ransomwould forestall repeat attacks . ONWASA will not negotiate with criminals nor bow to their demands . The FBI agrees that ransoms should not be paidAttack.Ransom. ONWASA will undertake the painstaking process of rebuilding its databases and computer systems from the ground up. ” The lack of computing ability will affect the timeliness of service from ONWASA for several weeks to come . Initially , the utility will operate manually at all plant and office locations . Water and wastewater service to homes and businesses will not be interrupted , the utility said . Customers may continue to make credit card payments by phone , at ONWASA 's kiosk locations ( by check , cash , or credit card ) , and in person at the main office at 228 Georgetown Road , Jacksonville . Satellite Offices in Holly Ridge , Swansboro , and Richlands have the capability of processing credit card payments by phone and very limited other services . Service orders , account creation , connections , disconnections , development review , backflow program , engineering , and human resources will utilize manual processes until the computer systems are restored . While phone service remains , email service has been interrupted for most of the utility . ONWASA said a team of local , state , and federal agencies are cooperating to restore the utility and bring the criminals to justice .
Media Prima Berhad 's computer systems have been locked out by cyber attackers who are demandingAttack.Ransommillions of ringgit in ransomAttack.Ransom. The media company , which runs a stable of TV and radio channels , newspapers , advertising and digital media companies was hit by a ransomware attackAttack.Ransomlast Thursday ( Nov 8 ) , The Edge Financial Daily reported . Ransomware is a type of malicious software ( malware ) designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paidAttack.Ransom. The report , quoting a source , said the attackers are demandingAttack.Ransom1,000 bitcoins to release access to the computer systems . This means that the attackers are demanding a ransomAttack.Ransomof RM26.42 million ( S $ 8.71 million ) . Media Prima is listed on Bursa Malaysia 's main board . It operates , among others , three national newspapers , namely New Straits Times , Berita Harian and Harian Metro ; free-to-air television stations , namely TV3 , TV9 , ntv7 and 8TV ; and four radio stations , namely Fly FM , Hot FM , One FM and Kool FM . When contacted , Media Prima group managing director , Datuk Kamal Khalid , declined to comment when asked to confirm whether the company has been hitAttack.Ransomby ransomware . He urged The Star to get in touch with the company 's corporate communications department for comments , and efforts are ongoing to contact the department . The Edge Financial Daily report said it was not immediately known whether Media Prima 's data has been breachedAttack.Databreach, and whether the media group would be suffering financial losses due to the ransomware attackAttack.Ransom. It quoted another source saying that Media Prima 's office e-mail has been affected but that the company has migrated the email to another system . The source reportedly added that Media Prima has decided not to pay the ransomAttack.Ransom.