Ransomware encrypts or steals data to disrupt operations and extort victims, making backups, access controls, and incident response essential.
Search across headline titles and summaries.
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.
Remaining services are expected to return in the coming weeks after $22M ALPHV ransom Change Healthcare has taken the first steps toward a full recovery from the ransomware attack in February by bringing its electronic prescription services back online.…
Classified docs, readable passwords, and thousands of personal information nabbed in Xplain breach The Swiss government had around 65,000 files related to it stolen by the Play ransomware gang during an attack on an IT supplier, its National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) says.…
Alleged crim bought SmartScreen Killer, Cobalt Strike on dark-web markets A criminal claiming to be an ALPHV/BlackCat affiliate — the gang responsible for the widely disruptive Change Healthcare ransomware infection last month — may have ties to Chinese government-backed cybercrime syndicates.…
More than 1,000 servers remain unpatched and vulnerable Security researchers are increasingly seeing active exploit attempts using the latest vulnerabilities in JetBrains' TeamCity that in some cases are leading to ransomware deployment.…
Company reassures public it has enough beer, expects quick recovery before weekend Belgian beer brewer Duvel says a ransomware attack has brought its facility to a standstill while its IT team works to remediate the damage.…
Jump in overall cybercrime reports, $60M-plus reportedly lost to extortionists alone, Feds reckon Digital crimes potentially cost victims more than $12.5 billion last year, according to the FBI's latest Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) annual report. …
As the crooks behind the attack - probably ALPHV/BlackCat - fake their own demise The US government has stepped in to help hospitals and other healthcare providers affected by the Change Healthcare ransomware infection, offering more relaxed Medicare rules and urging advanced funding to providers.…
Insurance giant blames Infosys, LockBit claims credit Criminals have probably stolen nearly 30,000 Fidelity Investments Life Insurance customers' personal and financial information — including bank account and routing numbers, credit card numbers and security or access codes — after breaking into Infosys' IT systems in the fall.…
Insurance giant blames Infosys, LockBit claims credit Criminals have probably stolen nearly 30,000 Fidelity Investments Life Insurance customers' personal and financial information — including bank account and routing numbers, credit card numbers and security or access codes — after breaking into Infosys' IT systems in the fall.…
No honor among thieves? ALPHV/BlackCat, the gang behind the Change Healthcare cyberattack, has received more than $22 million in Bitcoin in what might be a ransomware payment.…
Increasingly clear number of permanent solutions is narrowing Global law enforcement authorities' attempts to shutter the LockBit ransomware crew have sparked a fresh call for a ban on ransomware payments to perpetrators.…
ALSO: CISA warns Ivanti vuln mitigations might not work, SAML hijack doesn't need ADFS, and crit vulns Infosec in brief The infamous LockBit ransomware gang has been busy in the ten days since an international law enforcement operation took down many of its systems. But despite its posturing, the gang might have suffered more than it's letting on.…