Each week we scour the web to discover the latest developments, news and tips that will help you keep your technology (and your business) safe and secure.
Here are the most interesting articles we’ve found this week that could be helpful to you:
Watch Hackers Break Into the US Power Grid
In this video, you’ll see hackers in action breaking into several businesses and bypassing all their security measures. A bit goofy, but it accurately illustrates how easily this can be done at most places.
Multipurpose malware: Sometimes Trojans come in threes
Just in case a plain old Ransomware wasn’t bad enough, malware authors have added a DDOS component to Cerber. This malware attacks you in multiple different ways.
As if ransomware weren’t bad enough, now it’s metastasizing: not just spreading rapidly but even picking up secondary characteristics. Take Cerber, ransomware first spotted in the wild back in February 2016.
Briefly, here is the sequence of events. First, Cerber arrives in the form of an e-mail attachment. Once executed, the virus behaves like any other ransomware, encrypting files and demanding money for their safe return. But then, security researchers are finding, it confirms the computer’s Internet connection and begins using the infected PC for other purposes, such as for a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack or as a spambot.
You don’t have to be in the FBI to know that Ransomware and Business Email Compromise are two of the leading issues facing cybersecurity. All leading information security experts agree on that. But still – it’s nice to have the FBI confirm it.
BEC is linked to other types of criminal activity including romance, lottery, employment, and check scams. Victims of these scams may be used to unknowingly transfer fraudulent funds on behalf of the perpetrators. In 2015, the IC3 received 7,838 BEC complaints with losses of over $263 million .
Microsoft Warns of ZCryptor Ransomware with Self-Propagation Features
Malware authors have added a “worm” component to a variant of the Ransomware Zcrypt. Not only can it encrypt files on shared drives and removable drive but, it can also copy itself there and wait to be installed by another system.
A security researcher named Jack, behind the MalwareForMe blog, first discovered and wrote about this threat on May 24. Three days later, Microsoft ‘s security team also took note of the new wave of infections.
“We are alerting Windows users of a new type of ransomware that exhibits worm-like behavior,” Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center alert reads. “This ransom leverages removable and network drives to propagate itself and affect more users.”
