Paul Milo reported this yesterday: Hackers have disabled some City of Newark computers and are now demanding about $30,000 worth of the online currency Bitcoin to render them operable once again, TAPInto reported Monday. The computers were infected over the weekend with an encryption that affects nearly all files that operate on a desktop, according to…
Category: Malware
The godfather of ransomware returns: Locky is back and sneakier than ever
Danny Palmer reports: The ransomware that drove last year’s boom in file-encrypting malware is back, and this time it’s even harder to detect. Ransomware cost its victims some $1bn during 2016, with Locky one of the most widespread variants, infecting organisations across the globe. However, the start of 2017 saw a sudden decline in the…
Russian Accused of Running Spam Ring is Indicted in US
Maria Dinzeo reports: A federal grand jury in Connecticut indicted Russian national Peter Yuryevich Levashov on eight counts of fraud, conspiracy and identity theft Friday, over his role in the Kelihos botnet that prosecutors say Levashov helped infect with malicious software. Levashov, 36, was arrested by Spanish authorities in Barcelona on April 7. Prosecutors believe…
Atlantic Digestive Specialists notify patients of ransomware incident
On February 20, 2017, Atlantic Digestive Specialists (“ADS”) discovered that some of its systems were infected with ransomware. ADS removed the ransomware from the affected systems by February 22, 2017. ADS has been working diligently, with the assistance of third-party forensic investigators, to determine the full nature and scope of this incident. To date, the…
InterContinental Hotel Chain Breach Expands
Brian Krebs reports: In December 2016, KrebsOnSecurity broke the news that fraud experts at various banks were seeing a pattern suggesting a widespread credit card breach across some 5,000 hotels worldwide owned by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). In February, IHG acknowledged a breach but said it appeared to involve only a dozen properties. Now, IHG has released…
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Notifies Guests of Payment Card Incident at IHG-Branded Franchise Hotel Locations in the Americas Region
Staying at a Holiday Inn Express may have made you smarter, but it also may have exposed you to payment card data compromise. From IHG: April 14, 2017 IHG values the relationship we have with our guests and understands the importance of protecting payment card data. Many IHG-branded locations are independently owned and operated franchises,…