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.
SentinelOne researchers highlighted similarities in the approaches used by the HellCat and Morpheus ransomware groups, suggesting shared infrastructure
An analysis of HellCat and Morpheus ransomware operations has revealed that affiliates associated with the respective cybercrime entities are using identical code for their ransomware payloads
Plus: 'Largest-ever' duff traffic tsunami clocks in at 5.6 Tbps In addition to Chinese spies invading organizations' networks and ransomware crews locking up sensitive files, botnets blasting distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks can still cause a world of hurt — and website downtime — and it's quite likely your competitors are to blame.…
Google on Wednesday shed light on a financially motivated threat actor named TRIPLESTRENGTH for its opportunistic targeting of cloud environments for cryptojacking and on-premise ransomware attacks
NCC Group observed 574 global ransomware attacks in December, the highest monthly volume it has recorded
That invitation to a Teams call on which IT promises to mop up a spamstorm may not be what it seems Two ransomware campaigns are abusing Microsoft Teams to infect organizations and steal data, and the crooks may have ties to Black Basta and FIN7, according to Sophos.…
Ransomware gangs are increasingly adopting email bombing followed by posing as tech support in Microsoft Teams calls to trick employees into allowing remote control and install malware that provides access to the company network. [...]
Sophos has warned of IT impersonation vishing attacks designed to remotely deploy ransomware
Hackers Using Valid Customer Credentials to Re-Encrypt S3 ObjectsAmazon is urging its customers to deploy additional security measures to secure S3 buckets following reports of ransomware attacks targeting the platform. The company said mitigations prevented "a high percentage of attempts from succeeding."
Students have work to complete at home in the meantime A UK high school will have to close for at least two days, today and tomorrow, after becoming the latest public-sector victim of ransomware criminals.…