Catalin Cimpanu reports: Malware samples used in the recent attacks against several Polish banks contained planted evidence that attempted to blame the attacks on Russian-speaking hackers. These false flags, as the (IT and real-world) security community refers to these planted clues, were discovered by Sergei Shevchenko, a Russian-speaking security expert for BAE Systems. In a report published this morning,…
Category: Malware
Hackers who took control of PC microphones siphon >600 GB from 70 targets
Dan Goodin reports: Researchers have uncovered an advanced malware-based operation that siphoned more than 600 gigabytes from about 70 targets in a broad range of industries, including critical infrastructure, news media, and scientific research. The operation uses malware to capture audio recordings of conversations, screen shots, documents, and passwords, according to a blog post published last…
Bingham County servers locked up by ransomware; hackers demanded $25k – $30k
Stephan Rockefeller reports: Bingham County officials are scrambling to rebuild parts of their computer infrastructure after a ransomware attack took down county servers on Wednesday. Although efforts have been made to correct the problem, computer issues remained as of Friday. “Every department in the county is affected in some way,” Bingham County Commissioner Whitney Manwaring…
Family Service Rochester experiences data breach
Hannah Yang reports: Authorities are investigating a data breach at Family Services Rochester. Family Services Rochester has notified individuals that portions of its computer systems that contained personal information had been compromised. On Jan. 26, Family Services Rochester discovered some of its files were encrypted with ransom ware. Authorities were notified immediately, and an investigation…
Oklahoma Gov, OMES Confirm Unnamed Agency Hacked, No Ransom Paid
Grant Hermes reports: Calling it a “catch-22”, Oklahoma state officials declined to release which state agency was discovered to have been attacked by hackers, claiming on Wednesday that releasing the name could compromise the agency further. Last week, the state director of Oklahoma CyberCommand told a House of Representative committee an agency had been attacked…
Fast Food Chain Arby’s Acknowledges Breach at Hundreds of Locations
Brian Krebs reports: Sources at nearly a half-dozen banks and credit unions independently reached out over the past 48 hours to inquire if I’d heard anything about a data breach at Arby’s fast-food restaurants. Asked about the rumors, Arby’s told KrebsOnSecurity that it recently remediated a breach involving malicious software installed on payment card systems at hundreds of…