Joe Tidy reports: A hacking group is donating stolen money to charity in what is seen as a mysterious first for cyber-crime that’s puzzling experts. Darkside hackers claim to have extorted millions of dollars from companies, but say they now want to “make the world a better place”. In a post on the dark web,…
Category: Malware
AKO’s back — as “Ranzy Locker”
Lawrence Abrams reports: ThunderX has changed its name to Ranzy Locker and launched a data leak site where they shame victims who do not pay the ransom. ThunderX is a ransomware operation that was launched at the end of August 2020. Soon after launching, weaknesses were found in the ransomware that allowed a free decryptor to…
Hackers attack Haldiram’s servers, demand Rs 7.5 lakh
Tanmayee Tyagi reports: Unidentified hackers attacked the servers of Noida-based Haldiram’s Snacks private limited with ransomware, stealing sensitive data and demanding a ransom of Rs 7.5 lakh to release the information. A case was registered at Noida Sector 58 police station on Wednesday. The incident occurred on the intervening night of July 12 and 13…
Ransomware Attack on a Major Health Tech Firm Slows Down Several COVID-19 Clinical Trials
Alicia Hope reports: A ransomware attack targeting medical technology firm slowed down clinical trials for the past two weeks, according to the New York Times. The attack targeted a Philadelphia company that develops software for clinical trials, including the crash effort to develop rapid coronavirus tests, treatment, and the vaccine. The attack on eResearch Technology forced…
State Financial Regulators Issue Ransomware Mitigation Tool
Kimberly Peretti, Amy Mushahwar, and Alysa Austin of Alston & Bird write: On October 13, 2020, state financial regulators in partnership with the Bankers Electronic Crimes Taskforce and the U.S. Secret Service, released the Ransomware Self-Assessment Tool (R-SAT) to help financial institutions mitigate the risks of ransomware. The R-SAT is a detailed questionnaire designed to evaluate the…
British Airways Fined $26 Million in U.K. Probe Over 2018 Data Attack
British Airways has been fined £20m (U.S. $26 million) by the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office for a 2018 breach that impacted more than 400,000 customers. That penalty is significantly less than what the ICO had indicated it intended to do. In a press statement accompanying the monetary penalty notice, the ICO stated: An ICO investigation…