R. Robin McDonald reports that the hacker known as “Kolypto,” whose real name is Mark Vartanyan, has been sentenced in federal court in Atlanta to five years in prison. Federal prosecutors in Atlanta say Vartanyan developed, improved, and distributed a pernicious computer malware toolkit known as Citadel that targeted major financial and government institutions around the…
Category: Malware
Atlanta neurological clinic notifies patients of ransomware attack AND an older hack
In the process of investigating a ransomware incident, Peachtree Neurological Clinic discovered an earlier hack going back to February 2016. They posted the following notice on their web site: Peachtree Neurological Clinic, P.C. (“PNC”) of Atlanta, Georgia has advised its patients of a privacy event that may have compromised certain personal information. The events are…
Ca: Community Care discloses ransomware incident
I must admit that I am pleasantly surprised to read how this non-profit had a great response to a ransomware attack. Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold is still reeling from a cyberattack that shut its computers down for more than a week. The local food bank’s CEO, Betty-Lou Souter, said Community Care’s systems…
Hackers nab credit card data from up to 1,000 California Realtors
Jeff Collins reports: Just over 1,000 California Association of Realtors members may have been affected by a breach of the online store they use to buy everything from blank home sales contracts and disclosure forms to books, software, magnets, lapel pins and coffee mugs. The malware attack, which occurred from March 13 through May 15, prompted CAR…
Russian-Born Cybercriminal Sentenced to Over Nine Years in Prison
A nearly decade-long member of several elite Russian-speaking cybercrime forums was sentenced yesterday to 110 months in prison for running a sophisticated scheme to steal and traffic sensitive personal and financial information in the online criminal underground. Alexander Tverdokhlebov, 29, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty on March 31 to wire fraud. Accordingly to court documents,…
Self-Service Food Kiosk Vendor Avanti Hacked
Brian Krebs reports: Avanti Markets, a company whose self-service payment kiosks sit beside shelves of snacks and drinks in thousands of corporate breakrooms across America, has suffered of breach of its internal networks in which hackers were able to push malicious software out to those payment devices, the company has acknowledged. The breach may have jeopardized…