Sandro Contenta reports: Ransomware attacks at two children’s aid societies have spurred the Ontario government to tighten cybersecurity around a new, $123-million provincial database for children in care. One of the agencies — the Children’s Aid Society of Oxford County — paid a $5,000 ransom to regain access to their sensitive data after the malware…
Category: Malware
NZ: Cryptolocker malware hits Inland Revenue, locks 3500 files
Rob O’Neill reports: Thousands of Inland Revenue files were locked up after New Zealand’s tax department became the target of a cryptolocking attack in November. IRD said that in addition to the phishing emails targeting customers, the department also regularly receives phishing emails attempting to obtain money or information or to compromise the Inland Revenue…
In: City accountant hit in suspected ransomware attack
TOI reports: Jaipur: In what is suspected to be the first case of ransomware infecting a system in the state, a city-based charted accountant was hit by hackers who encrypted files on his computers and demanded money in Bitcoins to decrypt the files. They also threatened to corrupt the data if he failed to pay…
SamSam ransomware infects Colorado Department of Transportation
Luana Pascu reports: SamSam ransomware is back and the Colorado Department of Transportation is its most recent victim. More than 2,000 agency computers had to be shut down on Feb 21 to prevent the ransomware from spreading across the entire infrastructure. According to CBS local news, the critical systems used to manage road traffic and…
Hacker Strikes ‘Stalkerware’ Companies, Stealing Alleged Texts and GPS Locations of Customers
Joseph Cox reports: A hacker has broken into two consumer spyware companies—firms which sell malware to everyday people, sometimes with the explicit intent of illegally spying on spouses or lovers—and provided a large cache of data to Motherboard. The data includes gigabytes of customer records, apparent business information, and alleged intercepted messages of some people…
PA: City of Allentown computer systems hit by virus that may require an expensive fix
Daniel Patrick Sheehan and Emily Opilo report: The City of Allentown has been hit by a serious computer virus that is affecting an array of systems, with some shut down as a precaution while a team of outside experts tries to fix the problem. City spokesman Mike Moore said the malware, which has the potential…