Ransomware gives way to miners as cyber criminals follow the money
Cyber criminals have started using sophisticated infection methods and techniques borrowed from targeted attacks in order to install mining software on attacked PCs within organizations says Kaspersky Lab.
Some 2.7 million users have been attacked by malicious miners in 2017, according to Kaspersky's data. That's around 50 percent higher than in 2016 (1.87 million). But at the same time ransomware attacks have seen a decline.
Mid-market organizations hardest hit by ransomware
Mid-market organizations -- those with 1,000-5,000 employees -- have been hit the hardest with ransomware in 2017, with 29 percent experiencing a ransomware attack, according to a new report.
Security awareness training company KnowBe4 has released its 2018 Threat Impact and Endpoint Protection Report which shows organizations in manufacturing, technology and consumer-focused industries experienced the most ransomware attacks.
Cyber security in (big) numbers
We hear a lot about cyber attacks and the latest threats, but it can sometimes be hard to comprehend the scale of the problem.
Network security company Bricata has produced an infographic that sets out some of the statistics to put things into context.
Growth in Android ransomware slows, but it's getting sneakier
While Android ransomware is still growing, it's doing so at a slower rate than at its peak in 2016. However, it is using sneaky new techniques to trick users.
New findings from researchers at ESET reveal techniques like the misuse of Android's Accessibility services being used to infect devices. The most popular attack technique though remains screen-locking followed by a ransom demand. The most frequently detected variant being the Android/Locker family.
Record ransomware volumes seen in 2017
The latest annual State of Malware Report from Malwarebytes shows that ransomware had a bumper year in 2017, though it began to trend downwards towards the end of the year.
Ransomware launched against consumers was up more than 93 percent and ransomware against businesses up 90 percent. As the year end approached though many avenues known for ransomware drops were seen diversifying their payloads with banking Trojans and cryptocurrency miners instead.
Ransomware happens -- get over it and be prepared
In its recent State of the Channel Ransomware Report, data protection firm Datto found that SMBs ponied up some $301 million to digital hostage takers over the course of the past year. According to the survey that claims to have spoken to some 1,700 MSPs, representing over 100,000 clients, 21 percent stated that their clients suffered six or more attacks last year.
Simply put, roughly one in five organizations were victims of ransomware. However more disturbing was that 99 percent of MSPs told researchers that they expect to see the rise in ransomware attacks continue to grow over the next two years.
Half of companies suffer financially motivated cyber attacks
Cyber attacks driven by ransom demands are on the increase as criminals seek to cash in on the soaring values of crypto currencies according to a new report.
The 2017-2018 Global Application and Network Security Report from cyber security company Radware finds that reported ransom attacks surged in the past year, increasing 40 percent from the 2016 survey. Half of companies surveyed suffered a financially motivated attack in the past year.
Ransomware dominates the 2017 threat landscape
Cyber attacks have been on the rise throughout 2017. According to endpoint security specialist Carbon Black, from January to December there has been a 328 percent jump in attacks against endpoints.
This means a business with 10,000 employees seeing about 1,000 attacks every single day. It's ransomware that continues to be a main attack vector for criminals though. Not only is it proliferating in underground markets on the dark web, it also cost global businesses an estimated $5 billion in 2017 - according to Cybersecurity Ventures.
World's biggest botnet delivers new ransomware threat
The latest Global Threat Index from cyber security specialist Check Point reveals that the Necurs spam botnet -- reckoned to be the largest in the world -- is being used to distribute one of the latest ransomware threats.
During the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, Necurs sent over 12 million emails in just one morning, distributing the relatively new Scarab ransomware, first seen in June 2017.
New tool offers an affordable anti-ransomware solution for enterprises
Over the last year attacks like WannaCry and Petya have brought ransomware into the public eye like never before.
Security intelligence platform CyberSight is launching a new solution to predict, detect and stop ransomware attacks.
How to protect yourself against Bad Rabbit ransomware
News broke earlier about the spread of a new form of ransomware going by the name of Bad Rabbit. It name drops Game of Thrones and bears more than a passing resemblance to WannaCry and Petya.
While the main impact of Bad Rabbit has been felt in Eastern Europe, some instances of the ransomware have also been detected in the US. Thankfully, it's relatively easy -- and free -- to protect your computer. By simply tweaking a couple of files, you can stop the ransomware in its tracks.
Bad Rabbit ransomware spreads across Eastern Europe with echoes of WannaCry and Petya
A new strain of ransomware -- dubbed Bad Rabbit -- has struck in Russia, Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe. It is thought to be a variation on Petya due to a number of similarities, and it is wreaking havoc with media outlets and transport systems, including an airport in Ukraine, and the underground in Kiev.
Like many other forms of malware, Bad Rabbit was initially spread through a fake Flash installer, but it was then able to spread via networks to hit a larger number of machines. The spread of the ransomware is further facilitated by using the open source Mimikatz for extracting credentials, and DiskCryptor for encrypting data.
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update offers ransomware protection with Controlled Folder Access
Ransomware is one of the most concerning, and the most prevalent, forms of malware around at the moment. While there are numerous security tools out there that you can install to keep yourself protected, if you have upgraded to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update you have a built-in tool at your disposal.
Called Controlled Folder Access, the feature locks down files and folders to protect them against unwanted changes -- including encryption by ransomware. It's not enabled by default, so here's what you need to do.
FileCloud adds technology to protect customers from ransomware
Just because data is stored in the cloud rather than on in-house servers doesn’t mean that it isn’t vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Enterprise file platform FileCloud has recognized this and is building advanced ransomware protection into its latest release.
Android: DoubleLocker ransomware encrypts data and changes PINs
A new breed of Android ransomware has been discovered that hits victims with a double whammy. DoubleLocker not only encrypts data as all ransomware does, it also changes the PIN on the target device.
DoubleLocker was discovered by security researchers at ESET. They say that the ransomware abuses Android accessibility settings, and is the first to use a double-lock approach. Based on previously released banking malware, it is though that a test version of DoubleLocker could have been in the wild since as early as May.
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