David E. Sanger and Marc Santora report: The United States and its key allies on Thursday accused Russia’s main military intelligence agency of a broad cyberattack against the republic of Georgia in October that took out websites and interrupted television broadcasts, in a coordinated effort to deter Moscow from intervening in the 2020 presidential election…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Swiss info security body warns of ransomware attacks against businesses
Maria Nikolova reports: Switzerland’s Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI) today issued a warning regarding a high number of ransomware attacks against Swiss businesses over the past weeks. In recent weeks, MELANI / GovCERT has dealt with more than a dozen ransomware cases in which unknown perpetrators encrypted the systems of Swiss SMEs and…
Protenus releases its analysis of 2019 health data breaches
Protenus’s 2020 BreachBarometer is now available for free downloading. From their highlights: Our analysis is based on 572 health data breaches reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the media, or some other source during 2019 (Figure 1). As in years past, we do not have numbers for every incident in…
Cop’s Strip Club Dancer Plate Search May Test Scope of Hack Law
Sara Merken reports: The U.S. Supreme Court may decide if someone who improperly uses their authorized computer access, such as a cop looking up a strip club dancer’s license plate as a favor, can be liable under a federal anti-hacking law. A December petition seeks the high court review because appeals courts are split on…
1 in 6 Massachusetts Communities Hit by ‘Ransomware’ Attacks
Ryan Kath and Jim Haddadin report: Inside the Bay State, a handful of attacks against cities and towns have garnered widespread attention, though the problem may be more prevalent than many imagine. Records obtained by the NBC10 Boston Investigators show dozens of Massachusetts communities have quietly negotiated ransomware attacks, sometimes taking days or weeks to…
Inside Kenyan Hacker Group Gaining International Fame
Martin Siele reports: SilentCards, based in Nairobi, has previously been accused of orchestrating multi-million shilling heists in the financial services sector, particularly targeting banks and their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Singapore-based cyber-security firm, Group-IB, in its annual Hi-Tech Crimes Report identified SilentCards as one of the prominent players in the global cyber-crime landscape. Read more on Kenyans.co.ke