In a sudden, stunning announcement today, the United States Department of Justice, the FBI, and federal agencies from 13 countries from Europol, announced the seizure of the transnational Hive ransomware operation. The seizure was part of a months-long operation that began in late July 2022 when the FBI infiltrated the Hive network. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said it … [Read more...]
Cybersecurity News: Malvertising, Ransomware, and Alleged IRS Breach
Regarding malware, breaches, and the overall threat landscape, 2023 is off to a dynamic start. Malvertising (malicious advertising) continues to be a successful attack vector for hackers, especially from sponsored ads via Google searches. Jon DiMaggio released his long-awaited Ransomware Diary series beginning with the first iteration of the LockBit ransomware group. Also, a … [Read more...]
Endurance Ransomware Claims Breach of US Federal Government
The WatchGuard Security Team spends a lot of time chasing ransomware extortion groups throughout the dark web. So, it only fits that one of the newer ransomware extortion groups is named Endurance Ransomware. It appears this "group" is one individual known as IntelBroker, who has allegedly breached several entities of the US government and two other separate businesses in one … [Read more...]
LockBit Ransomware Group Introduces Bug Bounties and More
The LockBit ransomware group has unveiled a new website – LockBit 3.0 – to host their ransom extortions and data leaks. The website includes several new features, including an unprecedented bug bounty program to assist the group in securing their site; acceptance of the privacy cryptocurrency, Zcash; and the addition of receiving payments from users to: “extend the timer for 24 … [Read more...]
DC Police Alleged Victim of Double-Extortion Ransomware Attack
Another day, another breach. Although, this time, the victim is the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C. and the breach was induced by double-extortion ransomware known as Babuk. The group behind the ransomware attack, the Babuk Ransomware Group, hosts a webpage of their leaks with their most recent addition being the DC Police. The original leak of information was … [Read more...]