Security News > 2022 > May > Ransomware attack sends US county back to 1977

New Jersey, was hit by a ransomware attack this week that hobbled its ability to conduct business, and also cut off access to essential data.

The attack, which happened on Tuesday, took down email services for county government departments as well as leaving the county clerk's office "Unable to provide most services which are reliant on internet access." Somerset County residents were asked to contact government offices via Gmail addresses set up for various departments, or via phone.

Malwarebytes said attributing the attacks to anyone is tough, in part because "Threat actors are known to use indicators from other groups as false flags." The infrastructure of the attack is what clued researchers off to its Chinese origin, who wrote that much of the way the attack is structured reflect previously identified Chinese actors.

Phishing attack nets $144k from Chinese tech company employees.

Twenty-four employees at Chinese internet portal Sohu recently fell victim to a phishing attack to the tune of $6,000 each, reinforcing, yet again, the importance of good cybersecurity awareness training.

The address used to launch the scam was compromised in another successful phishing attack the company faced earlier, it said.

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