According to US cybersecurity insurance provider Coalition‘s H1 2021 Cyber Insurance Claims Report, compared to the same period last year, the size of the average ransomware demand has tripled in size in 2021, from $450,000 to $1.2 million. This number is down a little on the $1.3 million being asked in late 2020, probably due […]
NEWS
Conti backdoor exploits use and abuse legit software
An angry Conti ransomware affiliate has leaked server IP addresses and a large training material archive. The leak gives security researchers to see how legitimate products such as Atera remote access software can be used as a backdoor to steal revenue and insurance data. For more details on what can be done and how, see […]
AI tools create convincing spearphishing emails at scale
Natural language processing (NLP, a form of machine learning) is being used to write spearphishing emails at scale. Normally an unappealingly labour-intensive task, researchers have shown that using the algorithm outstrips the capabilities of any team of human cybercriminals, and proves that putting all the work in is worth the effort. In a limited test, […]
Ransomware amateurs try to recruit employees in latest scam
Low-level cyber criminals are trying to get in on the act, using ransomware as a service, where hackers do the work in exchange for a cut of the profits for ne’er-do-wells with little or no idea about how to commit the crime themselves.. One particular unsophisticated, clumsy and amateurish ransomware campaign attempts to fool employees into […]
President Biden meeting tech giant CEOs to discuss cyber threat
According to Bloomberg, President Joe Biden is meeting the CEOs of some of the biggest tech companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM and JP Morgan at the White House today to discuss cyber security and in particular the rising threat of ransomware attacks and data leaks. The high level confab is prompted by a slew […]
Cybersecurity-as-a-Service firm lands $12m of funding in eight months
Cyvatar, based in Fareham, Hampshire and Orange County, California, is making ransomware protection accessible to all via a monthly subscription model. The company has received more than $12 million in funding in the eight months since it opened for business. In September 2020, it received $3 million from Bill Wood Ventures followed by a further […]
