ransomware News

Crypto Crime Hit Record $14 Billion in 2021, Research Shows

LONDON — Crime involving cryptocurrencies hit an all-time high of $14 billion last year, blockchain researcher Chainalysis said on Thursday, a record that comes as regulators call for more powers over the fast-growing sector. Crypto received by digital wallet addresses …

Ransomware Persists Even as High-Profile Attacks Have Slowed

WASHINGTON (AP)–In the months since President Joe Biden warned Russia’s Vladimir Putin that he needed to crack down on ransomware gangs in his country, there hasn’t been a massive attack like the one last May that resulted in gasoline shortages. …

Congressional Committee Seeks Lessons Learned From Ransomware Attack

In March 2021, CNA Financial Corp., one of the country’s largest insurance companies, suffered a ransomware attack from a cybercriminal group called Phoenix. The attackers pressured the insurer to pay up quickly by raising the ransom demand, claiming the data …

Iran-Backed Hackers Accused of Targeting Critical US Sectors

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers linked to the Iranian government have been targeting a “broad range of victims” inside the United States, including by deploying ransomware, according to an advisory issued Wednesday by American, British and Australian officials. The advisory says …

Robinhood Data Breach Nightmare Hinged on Customer Service Slip

Robinhood Markets Inc. caught criticism last year for its shortcomings in customer support. After racing to staff up, the company has a new problem: a customer service representative mishap allowed a hacker to steal the personal information of about 7 …

Justice Department Stepping Up Efforts to Combat Cybercrime

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is stepping up actions to combat ransomware and cybercrime through arrests and other actions, its No. 2 official told The Associated Press, as the Biden administration escalates its response to what it regards as …

Governments Turn Tables on Ransomware Gang REvil by Pushing it Offline

The ransomware group REvil was itself hacked and forced offline this week by a multi-country operation, according to three private sector cyber experts working with the United States and one former official. Former partners and associates of the Russian-led criminal …

Viewpoint: Some Insurers are Delaying Payment on Ransomware Claims

Ransomware attacks are on the rise. Cyber criminals continue to exploit lax security measures, which have become more acute in the work-from-home environment, and hack into companies’ systems, encrypt their data, and then demand multimillion-dollar ransoms. Though cyber insurance policies …

Sinclair Broadcast Group Identifies Data Breach

Sinclair Broadcast Group said Monday that it’s suffered a data breach and is still working to determine what information the data contained. The company said it started investigating the potential security incident on Saturday and on Sunday it identified certain …

US Talks Global Cybersecurity Without a Key Player: Russia

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid an epidemic of ransomware attacks, the U.S. is discussing cybersecurity strategy this week with 30 countries while leaving out one key player: Russia. The country that, unwittingly or not, hosts many of the criminal syndicates behind …