A public service announcement issued by the FBI on Friday: Scammers are leveraging the COVID-19 pandemic to steal your money, your personal information, or both. Don’t let them. Protect yourself and do your research before clicking on links purporting to provide information on the virus; donating to a charity online or through social media; contributing…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Ransomware attackers pledge to back off attacking medical entities during pandemic
“We’re all in this together” took on new meaning yesterday when a ransomware gang published a statement saying that they were offering their victims (whom they refer to as “partners”) discounts. And in response to an inquiry by Lawrence Abrams of Bleeping Computer, Maze Team also committed to not attacking medical entities during this pandemic…
France warns of new ransomware gang targeting local governments
Catalin Cimpanu reports on a new ransomware threat to local governments. France’s cybersecurity agency sounded the alarm. The alert, issued by France’s CERT team, points to a rising number of attacks carried out with a new version of the Mespinoza ransomware strain, also known as the Pysa ransomware. This ransomware strain was first spotted making victims last…
UK: Covid-19 response forces halt to NHS cyber security checks
Nick Carding reports from the between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place dept.: Security checks to keep the NHS safe from hackers have been delayed to help managers deal with covid-19. The service has also been warrned of attempts to exploit the pandemic by online fraudsters. The six-month delay means NHS trusts do not need to complete a cybersecurity checklist until…
New Nefilim Ransomware Threatens to Release Victims’ Data
Lawrence Abrams reports: A new ransomware called Nefilim that shares much of the same code as Nemty has started to become active in the wild and threatens to release stolen data. Nefilim became active at the end of February 2020 and while it not known for sure how the ransomware is being distributed, it is…
Better data could be the missing link in cyber policy
Andrew Eversden reports: The government needs to collect and store better data to develop a more effective cyber strategy and strengthen defenses, Cyberspace Solarium Commission members said March 17. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, which laid out several cyber policy recommendations March 11, suggested that the broader federal government and private sector adopt the Department of Defense’s defend…