Recently, gas has been a hot topic in the news. In the crypto media, it’s been about Ethereum miner’s fees. In the mainstream media, it’s been about good old-fashioned gasoline, including a short-term lack thereof along the East Coast, thanks to an alleged DarkSide ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline system, which provides 45% of the East Coast’s supply of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. In cases of ransomware, we generally see a typical cycle repeat: Initially, the focus is on the attack, the root cause, the fallout and steps organizations can take to avoid attacks in the future. Then, …
On average, the ransom demanded by cryptocurrency ransomware hackers increased by 200% from 2018 to 2019. According to a report published on June 5 by cybersecurity firm Crypsis Group, the average ransom demanded by cryptocurrency ransomware groups in 2019 reached $115,123. The median ransom, on the other hand, increased by 300% from 2018’s first quarter to the last quarter to 2019, reaching over $21,700. According to Crypsis Group, ransoms have grown as hackers increasingly target enterprises and select victims who are able to pay higher sums. Just yesterday, Cointelegraph reported that ST Engineering Aerospace’s United States subsidiary fell victim to …
Avaddon, a new ransomware-as-a-service, or RaaS, protocol, is the latest to jump on the crypto extortion bandwagon. Similar to ransomware from groups like Maze and REvil, the Avaddon project offers revenue-sharing for users who successfully deploy the software on unsuspecting victims. According to research by the cyber intelligence firm, DomainTools, RaaS development allows hackers to focus their efforts on malware development, rather than finding new places to deploy their attacks. Developers instead rely on third-party individuals who are looking to generate income by launching their own ransomware campaigns. Speaking with Cointelegraph, Tarik Saleh, senior security engineer and malware researcher at …
A cybersecurity expert explained why he is convinced that the promises made by ransomware groups amid the pandemic are irrelevant. Brett Callow — threat analyst at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft — told Cointelegraph that multiple ransomware groups recently made promises to halt their activity against medical organizations amid the coronavirus pandemic. Still, he believes that those promises are irrelevant: “The claims of a ceasefire made by ransomware groups are irrelevant [and] should be completely disregarded. Would you leave your front door unlocked simply because the local burglars had pinky-promised not to rob you? Probably not. The story of the frog and …
A newly upgraded version of a banking and crypto app targeting malware has recently resurfaced on the Google Play store, now with the capability to steal cookies from account logins and bypass fingerprint or authentication requirements. A warning about the new version of the malware was shared by malware analyst Alberto Segura and treat intelligence analyst Mike Stokkel on Twitter accounts on Sept. 2, sharing their co-authored article on Fox IT’s blog. We discovered a new version of #SharkbotDropper in Google Play used to download and install #Sharkbot! The found droppers were used in a campaign targeting UK and IT! …