Cybercrime

South Korean Banks Receive DDoS Threat from Hacker Group, Record Ransomware Payment Demanded

Various sources including South Korea's news agency Yonhap are reporting that a hacker group has threatened to launch a DDoS attack against seven South Korean banks unless they pay about 360 million won (US$315,000) in bitcoin. more

North Korea’s Spy Agency Behind WannaCry

According to a report from The Washington Post, the NSA has linked the North Korean government to the creation of the WannaCry ransomeware that resulted in affecting over 300,000 people in almost 150 countries last month. more

Canadian Internet Registration Authority Launches Cloud-Based DNS Firewall Service

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has announced the launch of a security service called D-Zone DNS Firewall -- a cloud-based cybersecurity solution -- to protect Canadian organizations from rasomware and malware. more

Good Samaritans with Network Visibility

In a big open office 30 feet from me, a team of US Veterans speak intently on the phone to businesses large and small, issuing urgent warnings of specific cyber security threats. They call to get stubborn, confused people to take down hidden ransomware distribution sites. They call with bad news that a specific computer at the business has malware that steals login credentials. more

Bell Canada Discloses Loss of 1.9 Million Email Addresses to Hacker, Says No Relation to WannaCry

Bell Canada, nation’s largest telecommunications company, disclosed late on Monday the illegal access of Bell customer information by an anonymous hacker. more

WannaCry: Patching Dilemma from the Other Side

WannaCry, originated firstly in state projects but spread by other actors, has touched upon myriads of infrastructure such as hospitals, telecommunication, railroads that many countries have labelled as critical. IT engineers are hastily presenting patching codes in various localized versions. The other patch needed, however, is more than technical. It is normative and legislative. The coding of that patch for a situation like this is in two layers of dilemma. more

It’s Up to Each of Us: Why I WannaCry for Collaboration

WannaCry, or WannaCrypt, is one of the many names of the piece of ransomware that impacted the Internet last week, and will likely continue to make the rounds this week. There are a number of takeaways and lessons to learn from the far-reaching attack that we witnessed. Let me tie those to voluntary cooperation and collaboration which together represent the foundation for the Internet's development. more

8 Reasons Why Cybersecurity Strategy and Business Operations are Inseparable

In modern society, there is one fact that is unquestionable: The hyper-connectivity of the digital economy is inescapable. A financial institution without an online presence or omni-channel strategy will cease to be competitive. Universities (for-profit or non-profit) must develop and continuously evolve their online learning capabilities if they are to stay relevant. Online retailers are quickly outpacing and rendering their 'brick-and-mortar' counterparts irrelevant. more

WannaCry Ransomware Cyberattack Spreading to Countries Across the World, 45K Attacks Reported So Far

Security researchers are reporting a massive attack today, dubbed "WannaCry", which has reached 45,000 attacks in 74 countries around the world so far, mostly in Russia. more

French Presidential Candidate Confirms Massive Hack, Emails Dumped Online Two Days Before Election

Leading French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's campaign confirmed on Friday a "massive" computer hack that dumped its campaign emails online less than two days before the election. more

A Report on Cyber Espionage Activities of Pawn Storm Over the Past Two Years

Pawn Storm, also known as Sednit, Fancy Bear, APT28, Sofacy, and STRONTIUM, is a cyber espionage organization operating for over a decade which has been particularly aggressive in the past few years. more

Russia Hacker Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison by U.S. Federal District Court

A 32-year-old Russia man was sentenced on Friday to 27 years in prison for computer hacking crimes that is reported to have caused over $169 million in damages to small businesses and financial institutions. more

UK Government Reports Nearly Half of Businesses Identified Cyber Security Breaches in the Past Year

The UK government has released the results of national cybersecurity survey revealing nearly seven in ten large companies in the country have identified a breach or attack in the past 12 months. more

New In-depth Analysis Finds Thousands of Domains Used in Technical Support Scams

A study conducted by PhD candidates at the Stony Brook University resulted in identifying malvertising as a major culprit for exposing users to technical support scams which allowed them to build an automated system capable of discovering, on a weekly basis, hundreds of phone numbers and domains operated by scammers. more

IRS Reports Hackers Accessed Data of Up to 100,000 People via Financial Aid Site for Students

U.S. Internal Revenue Service Commissioner (IRS) testified before the Senate Finance Committee stating the agency has discovered fraudsters could use someone's personal data to fill out a financial aid application, and the "Data Retrieval Tool" would populate the application with tax information. more