Security News
FBI accused of withholding ransomware key as part of REvil probe. The FBI had obtained a key to undo a flood of ransomware infections but sat on it for a while in an attempt to strike at the malware operators, it's claimed.
An "Insidious" new SMS smishing malware has been found targeting Android mobile users in the U.S. and Canada as part of a new campaign that uses SMS text message lures related to COVID-19 regulations and vaccine information in an attempt to steal personal and financial data. Proofpoint's messaging security subsidiary Cloudmark coined the emerging malware "TangleBot."
The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Russian cryptocurrency exchange Suex for helping facilitate and launder transactions from at least eight ransomware variants as part of the government's efforts to crack down on a surge in ransomware incidents and make it difficult for bad actors to profit from such attacks using digital currencies. "Virtual currency exchanges such as SUEX are critical to the profitability of ransomware attacks, which help fund additional cybercriminal activity," the department said in a press release.
The US Treasury Department announced the first-ever sanctions against a cryptocurrency exchange, the Russian-linked Suex, for facilitating ransom transactions for ransomware gangs and helping them evade sanctions. By sanctioning crypto exchanges providing ransomware groups with material support, the US hopes to drain their funding and disrupt their operations.
New Cooperative Inc., an agricultural cooperative owned by Iowa corn and soy farmers, has been hit by the BlackMatter ransomware group. The attackers are asking the co-op to pay $5,900,000 for the decryption key and not to release the stolen data.
U.S. farmers cooperative NEW Cooperative has suffered a BlackMatter ransomware attack demanding $5.9 million not to leak stolen data and provide a decryptor. NEW Cooperative is a farmer's feed and grain cooperative with over sixty locations throughout Iowa.
Cities, states, federal and military agencies should patch the Laserfiche CMS post-haste, said the security researcher whose jaw dropped at 50 sites hosting porn and Viagra spam. Gov domain hosting the offending files and displaying a specific Laserfiche error message.
A security researcher noticed all of these sites share a common software vendor. Mil domains using a common software product provided by Laserfiche, a government contractor.
Australia, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom have signed a new defence and technology-sharing pact. Dubbed AUKUS, the headline item of the pact is assistance from the UK and US to help Australia build nuclear-powered submarines that are interoperable with their own fleets.
Three former US intelligence and military operatives broke America's weapons export and computer security laws by, among other things, helping the United Arab Emirates hijack and siphon data from people's iPhones, it emerged on Tuesday. US citizens Marc Baier, 49, and Ryan Adams, 34, and ex-citizen Daniel Gericke, 40, were charged [PDF] with using "Illicit, fraudulent, and criminal means, including the use of advanced covert hacking systems that utilized computer exploits obtained from the United States and elsewhere, to gain unauthorized access to protected computers in the United States and elsewhere and to illicitly obtain information ... from victims from around the world."