Chris Ensey writes that as entities try to defend themselves better against ransomware, criminals have come up with a new twist to make it more likely for their victims to pay up: Many companies have figured out that they can avoid paying these ransoms by wiping a system clean, restoring it with backup drives, and…
Category: Malware
Family & Sports Medicine center patient records remain inaccessible three months after ransomware attack
Add Desert Care Family & Sports Medicine in Casa Grande, Arizona to the list of health facilities who suffered a ransomware attack. But what happened to them has resulted in my updating my worst breaches of 2016 list. On December 20, the center notified HHS that 500 patients were being notified that their server had…
Bulgarian man pleads not guilty in malware scheme
AP reports: A Bulgarian man has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in Pennsylvania that he used sophisticated malware designed to steal banking credentials and other confidential information from infected computers. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that 44-year-old Krasimir Nikolov of Varna, Bulgaria, gained access to victims’ online bank accounts and transferred funds or tried…
Georgia Tech Human Resources Notifies Employees of Data Breach
Georgia Tech reports: Georgia Tech Human Resources notified employees Thursday morning of a data breach that occurred in Tech’s systems earlier this month. On Dec. 12, a Georgia Tech employee conducted research on a trusted website that had been compromised by a malicious software known as ransomware. The ransomware infiltrated the employee’s computer, which was…
This Free App Can Protect You From Ransomware
Lee Mathews reports: If you’re properly prepared, however, ransomware can actually be quite easy to deal with. The security professionals at Cybereason think their new, free Windows app can help. It’s called (logically enough) RansomFree. Cybereason says it protects computers by watching for the behaviors typically exhibited by ransomware. Like other anti-malware tools with behavioral analysis tools,…
MI: Alpena Public Schools Superintendent says ransomware was “just some inconvenience”
David Holsted reports: Computer hackers didn’t get money out of Alpena Schools. The district is the latest victim of ransomware, a denial-of-access attack that prevents computer users from accessing files. However, Superintendent Andrea Martin said the district did not pay the ransom, and no harm was done to the files. No important information was lost….