Law enforcement and experienced ransomware professionals generally advise victims not to pay any ransom demands. Yet the University of Hawaiʻi Community College decided that they would pay following an attack that they first disclosed on June 13. So why did they make that decision? In a statement on their website this week, they explain: After…
Category: Malware
NH: Lebanon students to finally receive grades from June after cyberattack delay
Nora Doyle-Burr reports: Middle and high school students in the Lebanon School District are expected to receive their grades for the academic year that ended in June next week. The delayed release comes after some of the district’s key systems were taken offline as a precaution following a June cyberattack. PowerSchool, a student information database where…
ALPHV ransomware adds data leak API in new extortion strategy
Ionut Ilascu reports: The ALPHV ransomware gang, also referred to as BlackCat, is trying to put more pressure on their victims to pay a ransom by providing an API for their leak site to increase visibility for their attacks. […] Multiple researchers spotted earlier this week that the ALPHV/BlackCat data leak site added a new…
Yamaha confirms cyberattack after multiple ransomware gangs claim attacks
Jonathan Greig reports: Yamaha’s Canadian music division confirmed that it recently dealt with a cyberattack after two different ransomware groups claimed to have attacked the company. The Yamaha Corporation — different from the spun-off motorcycle division — is a Japanese manufacturing giant producing musical instruments and audio equipment. It is considered the world’s largest producer…
‘It feels like a digital hurricane’: Coastal Mississippi county recovering from ransomware attack
Jonathan Greig reports: A coastal Mississippi county is in the process of recovering from a wide-ranging ransomware attack that took down nearly all of the government’s in-office computers. Nestled right along the border with Alabama, George County is the quiet home to more than 25,000 people. But the local government was thrown into chaos this…
WormGPT: Cybercriminals AI Tool Gained Over 5,000 Subscribers in Just a Week
Tushar Subhra Dutta reports: The revolutionary innovations by AI (Artificial Intelligence) include generative AI that has various creative potential, but along with that it also raises serious concerns with malicious tools like WormGPT. Since it’s a powerful generative AI-based tool, WormGPT enables attackers to create their own custom hacking tools that pose major cybersecurity challenges. Just after…