Iain Thomson reports: A Michigan man who hacked into his local prison’s computing system to gain early release for a friend is facing his own time inside after getting caught. Konrads Voits, 27, pled guilty to hacking charges after installing malware on the Washtenaw County government computer system in an attempt to get a friend…
Category: Malware
More than two years after compromise, Combat Brands was still battling malware?
First, there was this: On January 25, 2017, Combat Brands began investigating some unusual activity reported by its credit card processor. Combat Brands immediately began to work with third-party forensic experts to investigate these reports and to identify any signs of compromise on its systems. On February 23, 2017, Combat Brands discovered that it was…
State Ag Dept.: East Texas school districts among those affected by ransomware
Meredith Shamburger reports: Several East Texas school districts have been affected by a computer security breach, with students’ personal information potentially being compromised, according to a notice from the Texas Department of Agriculture. Affected school districts include New Diana ISD, Ore City ISD, Gilmer ISD, Gladewater ISD, Harleton ISD, Harrison County Juvenile Services, Karnack ISD,…
U.S. CERT issues report on remote hacking tool used by North Korea
Patrick Howell O’Neill reports: U.S. authorities issued a report Tuesday identifying a remote administration trojan (RAT) they say is used by the North Korea-based hackers to attack the aerospace, telecommunications and finance industries. The tool, called FALLCHILL, is used by a group that the Department of Homeland Security refers to as Hidden Cobra. That group is more popularly known as Lazarus…
Kansas agency’s data restored after ransomware attack
Greg Mast reports: East Central Kansas Area Agency on Aging was the victim of a computer breach earlier this fall. The breach at ECKAAA, 117 S. Main, Ottawa, occurred Sept. 5. Files containing names, address, telephone number, birthdate, social security number and/or Medicaid number were encrypted by ransomware, which means the agency could not “open…
UK: Alleged hacker ‘used army of 9,000 ‘zombie’ computers to attack websites such as Skype, Google and Pokemon’
Lara Keay reports: A man has been charged with using an army of 9,000 ‘zombie’ computers to attack websites such as Skype, Google and Pokemon. Alex Bessell, 21, is accused of using them to orchestrate Distributed Denial of Service (DdOS) attacks on several major online firms in a bid to crash their operations. The attacks…