Collaborate Disseminate
Remember that time back in 2021 when a huge container ship blocked the Suez Canal and disrupted world shipping for a week? Well, something a little like that is playing …read more Continue reading Hackaday Links: March 27, 2022
Amazon is apparently pleased with how its Amazon Care pilot in Seattle has gone, since it announced this morning that it will be expanding the offering across the U.S. this summer, and opening it up to companies of all sizes, in addition to its own employees. The Amazon Care model combines on-demand and in-person care, […] Continue reading Amazon will expand its Amazon Care on-demand healthcare offering U.S.-wide this summer
The RobbinHood ransomware is using a deprecated Gigabyte driver as the tip of the spear for taking out antivirus products. Continue reading BYO-Bug Tactic Attacks Windows Kernel with Outdated Driver
Lawmakers in the US State of Maryland are debating a new bill that would make it illegal to own and distribute ransomware, and stiffens punishment for ransomware operators. If the bill passes, Maryland would be the third state, after Michigan and Wyomi… Continue reading Maryland Bill Would Make Owning Ransomware a Criminal Offense
Remember how the City of Baltimore was badly hit by ransomware earlier this year? Turns out that wasn’t the end of their problems. Also, Carole takes a look at how smart speakers can be hacked to trick you into giving criminals your passwords or … Continue reading Smashing Security #151: Frankly, sometimes paying the ransom is a good idea
IT workers have been storing files on their computers’ hard drives. One councilman’s alleged response: “That can’t be right? That’s real?” Continue reading Much-attacked Baltimore uses ‘mind-bogglingly’ bad data storage
Baltimore City’s board has decided to devote a surplus of $10 million toward an emergency ransomware response in the city, after officials refused to pay $80,000 to the attackers. Baltimore City officials this week approved the emergency funding … Continue reading Baltimore allocates $10 million to emergency funding in wake of ransomware attack
A second lawmaker from Maryland now says it doesn’t appear that the ransomware attack in Baltimore relied on a stolen National Security Agency exploit, EternalBlue. “It’s the federal government’s view that EternalBlue was not involved in the ransomware attack in Baltimore City,” Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen told CyberScoop on Monday following a briefing on Capitol Hill from NSA officials. The briefing was organized following requests from officials who sought details on whether the government’s own exploit, which was exposed in a 2017 leak from the NSA, had been used in an attack that hobbled Baltimore for weeks. The New York Times reported May 25 that EternalBlue was used to spread the ransomware, known as RobbinHood, across networks in Baltimore and in several other American cities. Van Hollen joined Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger in his assessment, which was based on a separate briefing from the NSA last week, that the government has determined EternalBlue was not […]
The post Sen. Van Hollen: Government sees no EternalBlue in Baltimore ransomware attack appeared first on CyberScoop.
Continue reading Sen. Van Hollen: Government sees no EternalBlue in Baltimore ransomware attack
Senior National Security Agency officials have no evidence a tool developed by the NSA “played a role” in the ransomware attack on Baltimore, Rep. Dutch Ruppersperger said Friday following a briefing at the agency’s headquarters. Ruppersberger, D-Md., and other officials requested briefings with the agency following a report from The New York Times that the exploit, known as EternalBlue, was used to help spread the RobbinHood ransomware variant across the city’s IT infrastructure. “I have been told that there is no evidence at this time that EternalBlue played a role in the ransomware attack currently affecting Baltimore City,” Ruppersberger said in a statement. “I’m told it was not used to gain access nor to propagate further activity within the network.” A followup briefing with other members of Maryland’s congressional delegation is expected to be held Monday. “It is important that discussions regarding the use of government cyber tools, and subsequent […]
The post Ruppersberger: NSA has no evidence EternalBlue was in Baltimore attack appeared first on CyberScoop.
Continue reading Ruppersberger: NSA has no evidence EternalBlue was in Baltimore attack
In the wake of the Baltimore ransomware attack, a senior adviser at the National Security Agency said Thursday there is no “indefensible” nation-state-built tool that is responsible for the spread of ransomware and network administrators have a responsibility to patch their systems, especially when patches have been released for critical flaws. The comments come after The New York Times reported this past week that RobbinHood, the ransomware strain behind the Baltimore ransomware attack, was able to spread on the city IT infrastructure partly due to its use of a leaked NSA tool known as EternalBlue. The Times report, which cites security experts briefed on the matter, states EternalBlue was discovered as incident response teams fixed the issues that had crippled a number of the city’s online services. “The characterization that there is an indefensible nation-state tool propagating ransomware is simply untrue,” Rob Joyce, a senior adviser at the NSA, said Thursday […]
The post NSA points to two-year patching window in remarks about Baltimore incident appeared first on CyberScoop.
Continue reading NSA points to two-year patching window in remarks about Baltimore incident