Category Archives: BadRabbit

Romanian police bust hackers allegedly plotting ransomware attacks on hospitals

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Romanian authorities said Friday they had disrupted a cybercriminal group that planned to conduct ransomware attacks on hospitals in the country. The hackers intended to pose as government officials and send malicious emails to public health institutions that purported to contain information on the coronavirus, according to the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), one of Romania’s top law enforcement agencies. Such ransomware attacks could disrupt the IT systems of hospitals, DIICOT said. But before that could happen, police and security officials said they searched the suspects’ properties in Romania and neighboring Moldova. All four suspects were arrested, ZDNet reported. The hackers planned to threaten hospitals to protest Romania’s state of emergency, which has restricted public gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Romanian news outlet Stirile Pro Tv. The threat of attacking hospitals would be a much more serious crime than the website defacements and other low-skill digital mischief usually […]

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Former NSA contractor sentenced to 9 years for theft of government info

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Former NSA contractor Harold T. Martin was sentenced Friday to 9 years in prison for his role in a massive theft of classified documents. Martin was responsible for one of the largest leaks of U.S government secrets, after it was found that the former NSA contractor possessed up to 50 terabytes of classified government documents he collected over the course of two decades. Judge Richard Bennett’s sentence falls short of the maximum number of years Martin previously face — 10 years for each of the 20 counts against him — for unauthorized and willful retention of national defense information. However, the sentence aligns with the plea agreement his public defenders reached with the U.S. government. The U.S. attorneys said his theft called for “significant” prison time, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum, which CyberScoop obtained. “The exceptionally grave nature and circumstances of the defendant’s criminal conduct call for a significant […]

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Ransomware Strains: The Stealthy Cyberthreat

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Increasingly more sophisticated and sneakier ransomware strains are making the lives of cybersecurity professionals more difficult than ever. A piece of malicious software, which we now know as ransomware, was created with a clear goal in mind: extort… Continue reading Ransomware Strains: The Stealthy Cyberthreat→

Brace for Hybrid Threats and Extortion-Fueled Attacks Next Year

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There’s no end in sight for ransomware and, based on what we’ve seen this year, these threats will become even more aggressive. Worse still, hackers have started incorporating extortion into other types of attacks. Ransomware pushers have h… Continue reading Brace for Hybrid Threats and Extortion-Fueled Attacks Next Year→

Kaspersky Security Bulletin – Story of the year 2017

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Welcome to ransomware in 2017 – the year global enterprises and industrial systems were added to the ever-growing list of victims, and targeted attackers started taking a serious interest in the threat. It was also a year of consistently high attack numbers, but limited innovation. Continue reading Kaspersky Security Bulletin – Story of the year 2017→

October 2017: The Month in Ransomware

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Ransomware activity didn’t skyrocket last month, but there was definitely a substantial increase compared to September. Perhaps the most serious wake-up call was the onset of BadRabbit, a Petya-like culprit going on a rampage in Eastern Europe. A likely successor of the Cerber ransomware dubbed Magniber started making the rounds via the Magnitude exploit kit. […]… Read More

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Japanese businesses are the latest victims of attacks disguised as ransomware

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A sustained ransomware campaign aimed at extorting Japanese companies now appears to have been part of an elaborate cyber espionage operation that included destroying data to conceal evidence, according to Israeli cybersecurity firm Cybereason. Based on malware analysis and other technical indicators discovered on victims’ networks, Cybereason concluded the two-part virus, dubbed “MBR-ONI,” was specially designed to target specific Japanese organizations in order to steal data during a certain timeframe. While the infections first appeared to be limited to conventional, cybercrime-related ransomware, further inspection by Cybereason revealed hidden commands were taking place behind the scenes, including a script that wiped Windows event logs. “We suspect that the ONI ransomware was used as a wiper to cover up an elaborate hacking operation,” a blog post published Tuesday by the company reads. “These targeted attacks lasted between three to nine months and all ended with an attempt to encrypt hundreds of machines at […]

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Global ransomware attacks tiptoed around Russian anti-virus products

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Those responsible for two of the largest ransomware attacks of 2017 designed their malware to carefully handle computers with Russian anti-virus products installed, security researchers have told CyberScoop. For the third time in less than six months, a ransomware-style cyberattack spread across Eastern Europe in a matter of hours. The attack, dubbed “BadRabbit,” infected computers inside Ukrainian and Russian government agencies, Ukrainian transportations facilities and Russian news outlets among other targets; causing a disruption in normal business operations that continues for some until today. Although most of BadRabbit’s impact occurred in Russia, there’s evidence that the malware compromised organizations in several countries other than Ukraine, including Japan and Turkey. The virus, when successfully installed, will encrypt files and then request a payment in the form of Bitcoin from victims in order to unlock their systems. Experts say there’s likely more to the story than a simple ransom collection. An investigation into […]

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NotPetya ransomware cost Merck more than $310 million

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The NotPetya cyberattack has cost the American pharmaceutical giant Merck more than $135 million in sales and $175 million in additional costs since June, the company said in a call with investors Friday. That number comes in addition to the $300 million loss FedEx said it suffered when systems were disrupted until as late as September. The shipping company Maersk lost $200 million when its systems were infected by the ransomware outbreak. The nation of Ukraine got the worst, however, with more than 1,500 people and organizations reporting being affected by the ransomware. In response, NATO pledged to increase aid to Ukraine’s cybersecurity. The June attack impacted Merck’s global manufacturing, research and sales for nearly a week. Company email was disabled, 70,000 employees were forbidden from touching their computers, and instructions were sent via copy-and-pasted text messages. The exact cause of the infection remains publicly unclear. Merck’s pain may not yet be over. […]

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