Gary Dimmock reports: It’s not every day that fraud victims get their money back. But Canada’s most prolific hacker, who launched ransomware attacks from his Ottawa home that left some targets in financial ruin, will be making full restitution. Matthew Philbert, 33, pleaded guilty to years of cyber attacks and was recently sentenced to two…
Category: Malware
Tx: BISD phone system now back online with new vendor following ransomware attack
Fox4Beaumont reports: The Beaumont ISD phone system is now back online with a new vendor following a nationwide ransomware attack on January 23 that impacted the district’s entire phone system, according to information Jackie Simien, BISD’s Director of Community and Media Relations, provided to KFDM/Fox4 News. The district has since changed phone vendors. The district…
INTERPOL-led operation targets growing cyber threats
Some 1,300 suspicious IP addresses or URLs have been identified as part of a global INTERPOL operation targeting phishing, malware and ransomware attacks. Operation Synergia, which ran from September to November 2023, was launched in response to the clear growth, escalation and professionalisation of transnational cybercrime and the need for coordinated action against new cyber…
Canadian malware spreader gets 2 years in prison
Joe Warminsky reports: A Canadian court handed down a two-year prison sentence to a man who admitted coordinating ransomware and malware attacks on private citizens, businesses and government agencies. Matthew Philbert, 33, pleaded guilty in October of last year to charges of fraud and unauthorized access to computers after his arrest in 2021 in Canada….
Ottawa-based cyberfraudster sentenced to 2 years
CBC reports: An Ottawa man convicted on charges related to a ransomware attack affecting hundreds of victims was sentenced to two years behind bars on Friday. Matthew Philbert, 33, was arrested by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in late 2021 following a lengthy investigation that also involved the RCMP, the FBI and Europol. Philbert was accused of co-ordinating…
Interview with the Knight Group, the heir of Cyclops
Marco A. De Felice, aka amvinfe, writes: It happens very often nowadays to witness the sudden disappearance of ransomware groups that have been active for only a few months. In the last three years, we have counted at least twenty of them that have “vanished from the radar” of journalists and researchers. Some of these…