Europol issued the following press release on July 3: Law enforcement has teamed up with the private sector to fight against the abuse of a legitimate security tool by criminals who were using it to infiltrate victims’ IT systems. Older, unlicensed versions of the Cobalt Strike red teaming tool were targeted during a week of…
Assessing the Disruptions of Ransomware Gangs
Intel 471 took a look back at law enforcement attempts to disrupt ransomware groups and at the recent Operation Cronos. Their timeline begins in 2021. The report looks at the immediate impact of disruptions and then the long-term impact. Do disruptions really make a significant — and lasting — dent in the problem, or are…
ShinyHunters Leak What They Claim Are 33M Twilio Authy Phone Numbers, Neiman Marcus and Truist Bank Data
Waqas reports: ShinyHunters hackers have taken responsibility for three high-profile data breaches involving Neiman Marcus, Truist Bank, and Twilio Authy, compromising personal details of millions of users and tens of thousands of employees. The infamous ShinyHunters hacking group, known for their recent Ticketmaster data breach, has struck again with a series of new attacks. This time,…
Ransomware group who hit Indonesian government apologizes, hands over encryption key
Laura Dobberstein reports: Brain Cipher, the group responsible for hacking into Indonesia’s Temporary National Data Center (PDNS) and disrupting the country’s services, has seemingly apologized for its actions and released an encryption key to the government. That key was in the form of an 54 kb ESXi file. Its efficacy has not yet been confirmed….
Two recent NYS audits of k-12 districts’ information technology security
The NYS Comptroller’s Office recently released more audits of school districts. Here are two of them: Whitney Point Central School District – Information Technology (IT) (Broome County) Audit Period July 1, 2021 – February 24, 2023. We extended our audit period to August 31, 2023 to review backup restoration results and November 16, 2023 to…
Louisiana Special School District ransomware attack possibly compromised workers’ personal information
Allison Bruhl reports: Louisiana Special School District employees were notified of a cyber attack on Friday, June 28, a little more than a month after it was discovered. According to the superintendent on July 3, the Louisiana State Police’s Cyber Crimes Division was contacted after an Akira ransomware breach was found on May 24. “Our…