Ransomware encrypts or steals data to disrupt operations and extort victims, making backups, access controls, and incident response essential.
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Background for this topic.
Ransomware is malware used to deny access to systems or data, usually by encrypting files and demanding payment for decryption. Many operations also steal sensitive information and threaten to publish it, so an attack can create both an availability crisis and a privacy or disclosure risk. Initial access may involve phishing, stolen credentials, exposed remote services, or exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities; attackers may then move through the network before deploying the payload.
Defenses should combine vulnerability management, phishing-resistant authentication where practical, endpoint and network monitoring, and backups that are isolated from routine administrator access and regularly tested for recovery. Organizations should also limit privileges and segment critical systems to reduce the blast radius. An incident requires rapid containment, preservation of forensic evidence, restoration from known-good backups, and assessment of notification, legal, and regulatory obligations. Threat intelligence can help identify relevant criminal infrastructure or tactics, but it does not replace sound access control, patching, detection, and recovery practices.
The enterprise-targeting Bumblebee malware is distributed through Google Ads and SEO poisoning that promote popular software like Zoom, Cisco AnyConnect, ChatGPT, and Citrix Workspace. [...]
A lot of news broke this week related to ransomware, with the discovery of LockBit testing macOS encryptors to an outage on NCR, causing massive headaches for restaurants. [...]
Attackers are hacking into poorly secured and Interned-exposed Microsoft SQL (MS-SQL) servers to deploy Trigona ransomware payloads and encrypt all files. [...]
Fortra has completed its investigation into the exploitation of CVE-2023-0669, a zero-day flaw in the GoAnywhere MFT solution that the Clop ransomware gang exploited to steal data from over a hundred companies. [...]
Threat actors use a new hacking tool dubbed AuKill to disable Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) Software on targets' systems before deploying backdoors and ransomware in Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks. [...]
The Play ransomware group has developed two custom tools in .NET, namely Grixba and VSS Copying Tool, which it uses to improve the effectiveness of its cyberattacks. [...]
March 2023 was the most prolific month recorded by cybersecurity analysts in recent years, measuring 459 attacks, an increase of 91% from the previous month and 62% compared to March 2022. [...]
Ex-Conti ransomware members have teamed up with the FIN7 threat actors to distribute a new malware family named 'Domino' in attacks on corporate networks. [...]
The LockBit ransomware gang has created encryptors targeting Macs for the first time, likely becoming the first major ransomware operation to ever specifically target macOS. [...]