All news with #ransomware tag

🔒 Asahi Group Holdings has confirmed a ransomware attack caused IT disruptions that forced shutdowns at its Japanese factories and prompted a switch to manual order and shipment processing. The company says investigations found evidence suggesting potential unauthorized data transfer from compromised devices. Asahi has established an Emergency Response Headquarters and is working with external cybersecurity experts; no cybercriminal group has publicly claimed responsibility.

🔒 Oracle said some customers received extortion emails tied to its E-Business Suite and linked the campaign to vulnerabilities patched in the July 2025 Critical Patch Update. While Oracle did not attribute the activity to a specific ransomware group, its investigation found potential use of previously identified EBS flaws, including three that were remotely exploitable. Security firms reported executives began receiving ransom demands on or before September 29, 2025. Oracle urged customers to apply the latest patches and contact support if they need assistance.

🔒 A ransomware attack on Motility Software Solutions on August 19, 2025, encrypted portions of its systems and may have exposed personal information for approximately 766,000 customers. The DMS vendor supports about 7,000 dealerships and stores data including names, emails, phone numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers. Motility restored systems from backups, implemented additional security measures, and is offering one year of identity monitoring through LifeLock to affected individuals.

🔒 Google has begun rolling out an AI-powered ransomware detection feature for Google Drive for desktop. The feature automatically pauses syncing of affected files on Windows and macOS when it detects signs of ransomware, protecting cloud copies though it does not prevent local file encryption. Administrators may disable detection or file restoration via the Admin console, and alerts require Drive version 114 or later.

⚠️ ENISA reports the EU cyber threat landscape has worsened, identifying ransomware as the single most damaging threat due to widespread encryption and costly recoveries. By frequency, DDoS incidents dominate (77% of reported cases), though they typically cause shorter-lived outages. The agency's analysis of 4,875 incidents from July 2024 to June 2025 also highlights concentrated attacks on public administration and a rapid rise in AI-assisted social engineering.

🚨 A ransomware group calling itself Randiant claims to have attacked UK childcare operator Kido, publishing names, photos, addresses and family contact details for ten children from one of Kido's London nurseries and threatening to release further data unless a ransom is paid. The attackers' leak page alleges data on more than 8,000 children was exfiltrated. Kido has not yet issued a public statement; London police say an investigation is ongoing. Kido also operates sites in the United States, India and China.

⚠️Manufacturing organizations now face an average of 1,585 cyberattacks per week, a 30% year‑over‑year rise, and ransomware remains the predominant threat. Incidents can incur losses that reach hundreds of millions and in some cases force insolvency. Deep supplier connectivity amplifies exposure because a single compromised vendor can cascade disruption across industries. The report urges executives to prioritize resilience, segmentation, and third‑party risk management.

⚠️ Asahi Group Holdings, Japan’s largest brewer, has suspended multiple domestic operations after a cyberattack disrupted ordering and shipping processes. Call center and customer service desks are currently unavailable to the public, and the company says the incident is confined to Japan-based systems. Investigations are ongoing; there is no confirmed leakage of personal or customer data, no public claim by ransomware gangs, and no recovery timeline has been announced.

🔒 The UK Government has granted Jaguar Land Rover a £1.5 billion loan guarantee via UK Export Finance's Export Development Guarantee (EDG) to help the automaker recover after a severe cyberattack halted production and forced system shutdowns. The guarantee backs a commercial bank loan rather than direct state lending, reducing lender risk so JLR can secure larger, better-priced financing and immediate liquidity to pay suppliers. Repaid over five years, the measure is intended to stabilise the supply chain and protect thousands of jobs while JLR works with the NCSC, law enforcement and cybersecurity specialists during a phased return to manufacturing.

🔐 Tony Anscombe reviews the top cybersecurity stories for September 2025 and highlights their implications for defenders. Incidents include disruptions at major European airports after a ransomware attack on Collins Aerospace, a prolonged outage at Jaguar Land Rover following an IT breach, and a large npm supply‑chain compromise that drew a CISA alert. He also notes impersonation campaigns targeting macOS users with LastPass‑themed information‑stealers.

🔒 LockBit 5.0 introduces faster ESXi drive encryption and enhanced evasion techniques, according to Trend Micro. The release includes Windows, Linux and VMware ESXi variants featuring heavy obfuscation, ETW patching, DLL reflection and hypervisor-targeted encryption designed to amplify impact. Researcher Jon DiMaggio describes the update as largely incremental fine-tuning and self-branding aimed at restoring affiliate trust after Operation Cronos.

🔒 Trend Micro has identified a new LockBit variant, LockBit 5.0, which it calls significantly more dangerous than prior releases and has observed in the wild. The vendor confirmed Windows, Linux, and ESXi binaries featuring faster encryption, removal of infection markers, randomized 16-character extensions and enhanced evasion. The Windows build includes a cleaner affiliate UI with detailed execution options, while the ESXi variant represents a critical escalation by enabling encryption of multiple virtual machines from a single payload. Researchers note substantial code reuse from 4.0, suggesting an evolutionary update rather than a rebrand.

🔒 The SpyCloud 2025 Identity Threat Report exposes a gap between confidence and capability: 86% of security leaders say they can prevent identity-based attacks, yet 85% of organizations experienced ransomware in the past year, with over one-third hit six to ten times. A survey of 500+ security leaders in North America and the UK highlights identity sprawl across SaaS, unmanaged devices and third-party ecosystems. The report notes phishing, credential reuse and exposed sessions increasingly enable persistent access. It warns that most organizations lack automated remediation, repeatable workflows and formal investigation protocols.

🔒 A 17-year-old hacker who surrendered on charges tied to sophisticated cyber intrusions against Las Vegas casinos between August and October 2023 has been released into his parents' custody under family court supervision. Authorities link the incidents to the Scattered Spider group and the deployment of BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware that disrupted operations and exposed staff and customer data. The judge imposed strict conditions including residence at a registered parental address, prohibition on leaving Clark County, internet use limited to educational purposes, and restrictions on phones and electronics, with immediate detention for violations. Prosecutors say the suspect may still control about $1.8 million in Bitcoin and are seeking additional charges and to try him as an adult.

🔒 British investigators arrested a man in his forties in West Sussex in connection with a suspected ransomware outbreak that disrupted flights across Europe. The National Crime Agency said the suspect was released on conditional bail and the probe remains at an early stage. Security researchers have linked the incident to the HardBit variant, which affected ARINC vMUSE systems and forced airlines to revert to paper processes amid repeated reinfections.

🔒 Ransomware can do more than encrypt files — it can disable alarms and create physical security vulnerabilities. In a recent episode of the Smashing Security podcast, hosts discuss how a ransomware-related outage at the Natural History Museum in Paris preceded a late-night theft of €600,000 in gold. The show also covers a new npm supply-chain worm dubbed Shai Hulud that has infected over 180 packages and quietly exfiltrated secrets, plus odd stories about ads appearing on consumer appliances.

🕵️‍♂️ In a five-month international campaign, Operation HAECHI VI led by Interpol and partner agencies recovered more than $439 million in cash and cryptocurrency tied to cyber-enabled financial crimes. Investigators from 40 countries across five continents targeted a broad range of scams — including voice phishing, investment fraud, BEC, sextortion and romance scams — freezing 400 crypto wallets and blocking over 68,000 bank accounts. The action included 45 arrests in Portugal and multimillion-dollar recoveries in Thailand, building on prior HAECHI phases that netted hundreds of millions and thousands of arrests.

🔒 On 29 August 2025 Huntress analysts identified a previously unseen ransomware variant they named Obscura after its embedded ransom note. The binary was placed in the domain NETLOGON scripts folder, enabling propagation via AD replication, and the actor created scheduled tasks to run it across hosts. Obscura requires administrative privileges, attempts to delete volume shadow copies and terminates roughly 120 security and backup processes. It uses Curve25519/X25519 key exchange and XChaCha20 for file encryption and writes a decoded ransom note to C:\README-OBSCURA.txt.

🛫 The UK's National Crime Agency arrested a man in his forties in West Sussex on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences linked to a ransomware attack that disrupted airports across Europe. RTX Corporation confirmed the incident affected its Collins Aerospace MUSE passenger processing software, first detected on September 19. The suspect has been released on conditional bail while the probe, supported by the South East ROCU and other agencies, remains in its early stages. Affected customers shifted to backup and manual processes while RTX and external cybersecurity experts work to contain and remediate the impact.

⚠️ Ransomware attacks have accelerated to machine speed, often completing exfiltration and impact in minutes rather than days. Unit 42 research documents a dramatic decline in mean time to exfiltrate, driven by AI automation, initial access brokers and RaaS, which together enable highly targeted, fast-moving campaigns. Organizations now need AI-powered detection, automated containment and unified XDR visibility across endpoints, network and cloud to stop threats in real time. Human analysts remain vital but must operate alongside automated systems to focus on hunting and strategic response.