Security News
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning US private sector companies about an increase in business email compromise attacks targeting state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities. "From 2018 through 2020, the FBI observed increases in business email compromise actors targeting state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities for financial gain due to vulnerability exploitation and transparency requirements," the FBI said.
Attacks employing the TrickBot malware continue, leveraging phishing emails as the initial infection vector, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation warn. In a joint advisory published on Wednesday, the two agencies revealed that a sophisticated group of cybercrime actors is leveraging a traffic infringement phishing scheme to lure victims into downloading the TrickBot malware.
The FBI this week published its Internet Crime Report for 2020, and the agency said it received nearly 800,000 cybercrime complaints last year, with reported losses totaling $4.2 billion. The number of complaints received by the FBI in 2020 increased significantly compared to the previous year, when it got roughly 467,000 complaints.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has published its annual report on cybercrime affecting victims in the U.S., noting a record number of complaints and financial losses in 2020 compared to the previous year. The Internet Crime Complaint Center received last year 791,790 complaints - up by 69% from 2019 - of suspected internet crime causing more than $4 billion in losses.
An alert issued on Tuesday by the FBI warns about an increase in PYSA ransomware attacks on education institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom. According to the FBI, PYSA attacks have been launched by "Unidentified cyber actors" against higher education, K-12 schools and seminaries in a dozen U.S. states, as well as the U.K. The threat actors behind PYSA attacks are known to encrypt data on compromised systems, but they also steal information from victims and threaten to leak it in an effort to increase their chances of getting paid.
"Since March 2020, the FBI has become aware of PYSA ransomware attacks against US and foreign government entities, educational institutions, private companies, and the healthcare sector by unidentified cyber actors," the FBI says in the TLP:WHITE flash alert. The FBI recommends not paying Pysa ransomware's ransoms since giving in to their demands will most likely fund future ransomware attacks and encourage them to target other potential victims.
The FBI published this warning on Wednesday as an IC3 public service announcement and as a Private Industry Notification issued to private sector organizations in coordination with DHS-CISA. Attacks on emergency services can lead to loss of lives. "The IC3 has become aware of increased coercion tactics used by the subjects, which have created a threat to emergency services across the nation," the FBI said in a public service announcement from January 2013.
Federal law enforcement is now looking into a cyberattack at a water treatment plant in Oldsmar, FL where someone was able to remotely access systems and add a dangerous amount of chemicals to the town's water supply. On Monday, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri explained during a press conference that an employee at Oldsmar's water treatment facility saw his mouse moving independently of him on Friday morning but thought nothing of it-it's common for people in the field to remotely access systems through their TeamViewer software.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning of scammers actively posing as FBI representatives and threatening targets with fines and jail time unless they don't hand out personal and/or financial information. As the FBI warns, the agency has received multiple reports of such scam attempts where the fraudsters are targeting North Florida residents attempting to steal their personal info.
Attackers are tricking employees into logging into phishing sites.