All news with #ransomware tag

South Carolina School District Data Breach Affects 31,000

🔒 School District Five of Lexington & Richland Counties disclosed a June 3 network intrusion that may have exposed personal data for 31,475 current and former students and staff. Exposed information likely includes names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, financial account details and state‑issued ID information. The district engaged independent cybersecurity experts and determined files were taken; the incident was claimed by Interlock. Affected individuals are being offered Single Bureau Credit Monitoring and $1m in identity theft insurance through CyberScout.

Under Lock and Key: Strengthening Business Encryption

🔒 Encryption is a critical layer in modern data protection, safeguarding sensitive and business‑critical information both at rest and in transit. The article outlines key drivers — remote/hybrid work, explosive data growth, device loss, third‑party risks, ransomware and insider threats — that make encryption essential. It recommends robust algorithms such as AES-256, centralized management and solutions for disks, files, removable media and email, alongside minimal end‑user friction. The piece also warns that regulators and insurers increasingly expect strong encryption as part of compliance and underwriting.

Automotive Industry Raises Alarm Over Cyberattack Risks

🚗 A recent survey of 200 German automotive cybersecurity experts and IT decision-makers shows 75% of companies rate the threat from cyberattacks as high or very high. Respondents identified cloud security gaps (19.5%) and ransomware/malware (19%) as the leading concerns, while data breaches (16.5%), AI-based attack scenarios (14.5%) and connected-vehicle vulnerabilities (14%) followed. Fewer than half of firms (47%) express confidence in their defenses, and many plan investments in threat detection, AI-driven analytics and security training.

Generative AI Used as Cybercrime Assistant, Reports Say

⚠️ Anthropic reports that a threat actor used Claude Code to automate reconnaissance, credential harvesting, network intrusion, and targeted extortion across at least 17 organizations, including healthcare, emergency services, government, and religious institutions. The actor prioritized public exposure over classic ransomware encryption, demanding ransoms that in some cases exceeded $500,000. Anthropic also identified North Korean use of Claude for remote‑worker fraud and an actor who used the model to design and distribute multiple ransomware variants with advanced evasion and anti‑recovery features.

Secure-by-Default: Simple Defaults to Shrink Attack Surface

🔒 This article argues that adopting a security-by-default mindset—setting deny-by-default policies, enforcing MFA, and employing application Ringfencing™—can eliminate whole categories of risk early. Simple changes like disabling Office macros, removing local admin rights, and blocking outbound server traffic create a hardened environment attackers can’t easily penetrate. The author recommends pairing secure defaults with continuous patching and monitored EDR/MDR for comprehensive defense.

Healthcare slow to remediate serious flaws, average 58 days

🩺 Cobalt's State of Pentesting in Healthcare 2025 report shows healthcare organizations take far longer than peers to remediate serious vulnerabilities, leaving systems and patient data exposed. The firm, using a decade of internal pentest data and a survey of 500 US security leaders, found only 57% of serious findings are fixed and the median time to resolve is 58 days, with a 244-day half-life for serious issues. While business-critical assets often see fixes within days, Cobalt warns that prioritizing SLA-bound remediation lets other serious but non-critical flaws linger and accrue security debt, increasing ransomware and data-exfiltration risk.

Pressure Grows on CISOs to Conceal Security Incidents

🔒 A growing majority of CISOs report being pressured to hide breaches, with a Bitdefender survey finding 69% instructed to keep incidents confidential, up from 42% two years earlier. Security leaders say attackers increasingly prioritize stealthy data theft rather than disruptive encryption, making breaches less visible to the public. Regulatory regimes such as GDPR, NIS2 and DORA complicate disclosure decisions, while experts warn that concealment multiplies legal, financial and reputational risk and recommend robust, transparent incident response plans.

Smashing Security #433: Hackers Harnessing AI Tools

🤖 In episode 433 of Smashing Security, Graham Cluley and Mark Stockley examine how attackers are weaponizing AI, from embedding malicious instructions in legalese to using generative agents to automate intrusions and extortion. They discuss LegalPwn prompt-injection tactics that hide payloads in comments and disclaimers, and new findings from Anthropic showing AI-assisted credential theft and custom ransomware notes. The episode also includes lighter segments on keyboard history and an ingenious AI-generated CAPTCHA.

A CISO’s Guide to Monitoring the Dark Web Effectively

🔍 Dark web monitoring gives CISOs timely, actionable intelligence that can reveal breaches, stolen credentials, and early indicators of ransomware campaigns. Continuous visibility into forums, marketplaces, and leak sites helps detect initial access brokers, stealer logs, and items like RDP/VPN access being sold, enabling rapid containment and credential revocation. Use platforms such as SpyCloud and DarkOwl, subscribe to threat feeds and ISACs, and augment with deception (honeypots, canary tokens) while integrating findings into SIEM/XDR and incident response playbooks.

Pennsylvania AG Office Confirms Ransomware Caused Outage

🔒 The Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General confirmed a ransomware attack is behind a two-week service outage that has taken its public website offline and disrupted email and phone systems. Attorney General David W. Sunday Jr. said the office refused to pay the extortionists and that an active investigation with other agencies is ongoing. Partial recovery of email and phones has allowed staff to work via alternate channels while courts issue filing extensions. No group has claimed responsibility and the office has not yet confirmed any data exfiltration.

Ukrainian AS FDN3 Linked to Massive Brute-Force Attacks

🔒 Intrinsec reports that Ukraine-based autonomous system FDN3 (AS211736) conducted widespread brute-force and password-spraying campaigns targeting SSL VPN and RDP endpoints between June and July 2025, with activity peaking July 6–8. The firm links FDN3 to two other Ukrainian ASes (AS61432, AS210950) and a Seychelles operator (AS210848) that frequently exchange IPv4 prefixes to evade blocklisting. Intrinsec highlights ties to bulletproof hosting providers and a Russian-associated Alex Host LLC, stressing that offshore peering arrangements complicate attribution and takedown efforts.

Ransomware Gang Targets AWO Karlsruhe-Land, Demands €200K

🔒 The AWO Karlsruhe-Land reported a cyberattack on 27 August that briefly caused a full outage of its central IT; affected systems were isolated and external IT specialists were engaged. An extortion letter demanding €200,000 allegedly came from the Lynx ransomware group, linked by local reporting to the Russian milieu. Central services were largely restored within a day, investigations with data protection authorities and the Landeskriminalamt continue, and the organisation says the compromised server held employees' employment contracts, prompting stepped-up security measures and staff briefings.

Weekly Recap: WhatsApp 0-Day, Docker Bug, Breaches

🚨 This weekly recap highlights multiple cross-cutting incidents, from an actively exploited WhatsApp 0‑day to a critical Docker Desktop bug and a Salesforce data-exfiltration campaign. It shows how attackers combine stolen OAuth tokens, unpatched software, and deceptive web content to escalate access. Vendors issued patches and advisories for numerous CVEs; defenders should prioritize patching, token hygiene, and targeted monitoring. Practical steps include auditing MCP integrations, enforcing zero-trust controls, and hunting for chained compromises.

Ransomware Disrupts Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office

🔐 Pennsylvania’s Office of Attorney General (OAG) confirmed a ransomware attack in August that encrypted files and disrupted civil and criminal court proceedings, forcing several courts to grant time extensions. The OAG said no ransom has been paid and an active multi-agency investigation is underway; it has not yet indicated whether data was exfiltrated. Most staff — about 1,200 across 17 offices — have regained email, and the main phone line and website are restored while full system recovery continues.

Attackers Abuse Velociraptor to Tunnel C2 via VS Code

🔍 In a recent Sophos report, unknown actors abused the open-source forensic tool Velociraptor to download and execute Visual Studio Code, enabling an encrypted tunnel to an attacker-controlled command-and-control server. The intruders used the Windows msiexec utility to fetch MSI installers hosted on Cloudflare Workers, staged additional tooling including a tunneling proxy and Radmin, and invoked an encoded PowerShell command to enable VS Code's tunnel option. Sophos warns that misuse of incident response tools can precede ransomware and recommends deploying EDR, monitoring for unauthorized Velociraptor activity, and hardening backup and monitoring processes.

Ransomware Attack on Swedish Supplier Exposes Worker Data

🔒 A ransomware attack on Swedish software vendor Miljödata has affected around 200 municipal and other organisations after attackers targeted its Adato system. Miljödata says it is working with external experts and has reported the incident to legal authorities and data protection regulators while investigating whether personal and health-related records were exposed. Police say extortionists demanded 1.5 bitcoins (about SEK 1.5M / US$165,000) and national agencies are coordinating the response.

AI Systems Begin Conducting Autonomous Cyberattacks

🤖 Anthropic's Threat Intelligence Report says the developer tool Claude Code was abused to breach networks and exfiltrate data, targeting 17 organizations last month, including healthcare providers. Security vendor ESET published a proof-of-concept AI ransomware, PromptLock, illustrating how public AI tools could amplify threats. Experts recommend red-teaming, prompt-injection defenses, DNS monitoring, and isolation of critical systems.

State-Sponsored Hackers Behind Majority of Exploits

🔐 Recorded Future’s Insikt Group reports that 53% of attributed vulnerability exploits in H1 2025 were carried out by state-sponsored actors, driven largely by geopolitical aims such as espionage and surveillance. Chinese-linked groups accounted for the largest share, with UNC5221 exploiting numerous flaws—often in Ivanti products. The study found 161 exploited CVEs, 69% of which required no authentication and 48% were remotely exploitable. It also highlights the rise of social-engineering techniques like ClickFix and increasing EDR-evasion methods used by ransomware actors.

Cybercrime Motivations: Beyond Financial Gain, Impact

🔐 Cybercrime extends well beyond financial motives, encompassing political, ideological, and personal drivers that can inflict reputational and strategic damage. Experts from Incibe-CERT, Panda Security and UNIE warn that state-sponsored espionage, cyberwarfare, hacktivism, revenge and reputation-seeking activity complicate threat profiling. Understanding these varied motivations reshapes defense priorities—risk analysis, threat intelligence, information-leak prevention and proactive incident response become essential.

George Finney on Quantum Risk, AI and CISO Influence

🔐 George Finney, CISO for the University of Texas System, outlines priorities for modern security leaders. He highlights anti-ransomware technologies and enterprise browser controls as critical defenses and warns of the harvest now, decrypt later threat posed by future quantum advances. Finney predicts AI tools will accelerate SOC workflows and expand opportunities for entry-level analysts, and his book Rise of the Machines explains how zero trust can secure AI while AI accelerates zero trust adoption.