‘SHARP INCREASE IN MALWARE, PHISHING AND RANSOMWARE ATTACKS’

Term of the month: Ransomware Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents the victim from accessing files on their system and demands a payment in order to get back access and control. The payments can vary from a few hundred up to millions of dollars dependant on the value of the system breached and the damage it may cause.

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BRIEF UPDATE UN has reported a 350% rise in phishing websites in Q1/20, and this has increased further in Q2, although full figures are not yet available. The majority used COVID-19 as an exploit. 96% of UK firms hit by at least 1 major cyber-attack over last year. Russia is reported to target Linux systems with Drovub malware. ‘Doki’ malware is exploiting servers using Dogecoin. Android RAT malware is attacking mobile banking apps, NSA warns smartphone users of ‘large scale data tracking’, through Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS, even when phone service deactivated A new Android spyware, ‘Transparent Tribe’ is spread by a pornographic clip or fake COVID-19 tracking app, and originates in India.UK NHS flooded by 43,000 phishing attacks during March alone. Hackers exploited vulnerabilities in Windows 10 and Internet Explorer against South Korea companies in its DarkHotel spearfishing campaign. Both Windows and Explorer were patched by 11 Aug. Gigabytes of Intel source code and internal documents have been hacked, including backdoor info, with further details to follow. Major ransomware attacks include Canon US by Maze, closing its email, Teams, US website, internal functions and compromising 10TB of data. Following the WastedLocker ransomware attack on smartwatch maker Garmin, a multi-million dollar ransom was paid to obtain decryption key and to recover files. Nation to nation cyber attacks continue, the latest being repeated cyber=attacks on Greek government sites by Turkey, following deteriorating relations between the two nations. Police use of facial recognition ruled unlawful in the UK as it breaches human rights. Internet outages reached an all-time high during the pandemic but are slowly recovering.

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CYBER SECURITY IN THE NEWS

• Tesla employee rejected a $1 million to install malware

• Ransomware Has Gone Corporate

• New Zealand stock exchange halted by cyber-attack

• Report: Unskilled hackers can breach about 3 out of 4 companies

• Average Cost of a Data Breach in 2020: $3.86M

• 20 percent of companies working remotely have suffered a breach

• China's Tecno sold thousands of smartphones with malware in Africa

• Ransomware: These warning signs could mean you are already under attack

• Canon Suffers a Maze Ransomware Attack Leaking Terabytes of Data

• Uber's former security chief charged for allegedly concealing data breach