Security News
Data center and colocation services provider Equinix this week revealed that it was the victim of a ransomware attack. Equinix points out that most of its customers "Operate their own equipment within Equinix data centers," meaning that the attack did not affect their operations.
Even worse, ransomware attacks have been getting more sophisticated and expensive. A report released Thursday by cyber insurance provider Coalition looks at cyberattacks in general with details on how ransomware campaigns are becoming more severe.
According to a Tuesday public announcement, Hartford's ransomware attack caused an outage of critical systems, including the school district's software system that delivers real-time information on bus routes. Other recent ransomware attacks include one that hit the Clark County school district, which includes Las Vegas, during its first week of school, potentially exposing personal information of employees.
The Zeppelin ransomware has sailed back into relevance, after a hiatus of several months. These, like an initial Zeppelin wave observed in late 2019, start with phishing emails with Microsoft Word attachments that have malicious macros on board.
The Hartford School District in Connecticut has become the latest victim of a ransomware attack, disrupting the first day of school for thousands of children. In a statement on the school district's website, administrators said they were informed by the city's Metro Hartford Information Services a ransomware attack caused an disruption of critical systems, and that on Tuesday, restoration of those systems had not been completed, forcing them to postpone the first day of school to Wednesday.
The Clark County School District says its computer system was infected by a ransomware attack during the first week of school and some employee personal information may have been exposed. The district said Tuesday that a virus infected some computer systems on Aug. 27 and prohibited access to some files.
One the worst cyberattacks yet against Connecticut's capital city forced officials to postpone the first day of school Tuesday, disrupting the day for thousands of families as city computer experts rushed to restore systems vital for school operations. Superintendent of Schools Leslie Torres-Rodriguez announced the school opening postponement early Tuesday morning and said officials were checking to see if any school staff computers were affected by the attack.
A cyber attack at Newcastle University has turned out to be a ransomware infection courtesy of the Doppelpaymer gang. The university said in a statement on its website that it would take "Several weeks" to repair its systems from the ransomware attack, which was discovered on 30 August.
Ransomware attacks often rely on trojans to infect computers and steal information. As ransomware continues to dominate as a cyberthreat, criminals are increasingly carrying out attacks using Cobalt Strike, an otherwise ethical testing framework.
ERP security: Dispelling common misconceptionsThe various applications integrated in ERP systems collect, store, manage, and interpret sensitive data from the many business activities, which allows organizations to improve their efficiency in the long run. Needless to say, the security of such a crucial system and all the data it stores should be paramount for every organization.