On June 28, DataBreaches received a message from an unrecognized sender. The subject was: “Breach of Marriott hotels! Very Important!” DataBreaches’ first thought was, “Seriously? Is this yet another breach involving Marriott or are some kids just trying to leak old data?” As it turned out, this was, in fact, a new breach. But how…
Category: Other
Everything old is new again? Ransomware groups stop encrypting and switch to theft/extortion model.
In a new post at The Register, Jessica Lyons Hardcastle reports, in part: ….. Increasingly, however, cybercrime rings still tracked as ransomware operators are turning toward primarily data theft and extortion – and skipping the encryption step altogether. Rather than scramble files and demand payment for the decryption keys, and all the faff in between…
Russian “RSOCKS” Botnet Disrupted in International Cyber Operation
SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Department of Justice, together with law enforcement partners in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have dismantled the infrastructure of a Russian botnet known as RSOCKS which hacked millions of computers and other electronic devices around the world. A botnet is a group of hacked internet-connected devices that are…
Illinois Man Sentenced to 2 Years in Federal Prison for Operating DDoS-for-Hire Services
There’s an update to the case of Matthew Gatrel, whose conviction was previously reported on this site in September 2021: LOS ANGELES – An Illinois man was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison for running websites that allowed paying users to launch powerful distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attacks that flood targeted computers…
Compromised US Academic Credentials Identified Across Various Public and Dark Web Forums
The FBI has issued a private industry notification about the sale of credentials and access to universities on dark web and clear net forums. They write, in part: The FBI has observed incidents of stolen higher education credential information posted on publically accessible online forums or listed for sale on criminal marketplaces. The exposure of…
Hacker Steals Database of Hundreds of Verizon Employees
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai reports: A hacker has obtained a database that includes the full name, email address, corporate ID numbers, and phone number of hundreds of Verizon employees. …. The hacker contacted Motherboard last week to share the information. The anonymous hacker said they obtained the data by convincing a Verizon employee to give them remote…