"I actually think Johannesburg is doing the right thing here," said Allan Liska, an analyst at the security company Recorded Future. "They aren't sure of the extent of the attack so they are shutting down systems to conduct an effective incident response! We did not find results for: Hackers shut down Johannesburg's . Check spelling or type a new query.!! It is incredibly inconvenient for their constituents, but that abundance of caution will allow the city to effective assess any weak points and hopefully patch them before real damage can be done."
The exact details of that attack remain unclear as well, and banking services have been disrupted to some extent, but the banks say no data breach or risk to customers has occurred. It's unknown if the two incidents are related or represent two separate hacking groups crossing paths as they simultaneously target South Africa's capital city.
Ransomware as a business: Criminals searching for vulnerable targets and worthwhile paydays have zeroed in on local governments around the globe. In the United States, at least 80 state and local governments have been hit. At a fundamental level, the reason is obvious.
Other things to check out:
We asked a hacker to try and steal a CNN tech reporter's data. Here's what happened - CNN
The Cybersecurity Visuals Challenge illustrates hackers and cybersecur
Cybersecurity—and the lack thereof—is a constant topic in our digital age. But the way it’s represented in the media, particularly with the use of outdated stock photos and graphics, tends to be needlessly complex, and sometimes even comical .
Last year, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and OpenIDEO launched an international competition to address this lack of clear, compelling images to accompany journalism on these topics. Their Cybersecurity Visuals Challenge tasked participants with designing a new library of hoodie-free “hacker” images that can be freely used by news organizations and the like.
Yesterday, the top five winners of the global contest have been announced, representing artists and designers from India to Mexico, Australia, and the U.S.
Abraham Joel Pena Puleo [Image: courtesy Hewlett Foundation] Abraham Peña’s design targets phishing; in his graphic, he cleverly plays on the homonym by depitcing hackers as sharks circling an unassuming user.
Global insurers face quiet strain from hacker ransom demands - Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global insurers that cover cyberattacks are facing more claims related to ransom-demanding hackers who cripple businesses’ technology systems, and only stop after receiving substantial payments.
These hackers use malicious programs known as ransomware to take down systems controlling everything from supply chains to payments to manufacturing. The hackers have grown more sophisticated during the past year, cybersecurity experts say, shifting from individuals and mom-and-pop operations to larger companies that can afford bigger ransoms.
“They’re large enough to be worth extorting but not large enough to have sufficient network protections to defeat the ransomware,” said Brad Gow, global cyber product leader for insurer Sompo International ( 8630.T ).
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Businesses detected 365% more ransomware attacks in the second quarter than they did a year earlier, according to Malwarebytes, which sells cybersecurity software. The average ransom nearly tripled, to $36,295, from $12,762 between the first and second quarters of this year, according to Coveware, a firm that helps negotiate and facilitate cyber-ransom payments.
Not to change the topic here:
China Sharpens Hacking to Hound Its Minorities, Far and Wide - The New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO — China's state-sponsored hackers have drastically changed how they operate over the last three years, substituting selectivity for what had been a scattershot approach to their targets and showing a new determination by Beijing to push its surveillance state beyond its borders.
The government has poured considerable resources into the change, which is part of a reorganization of the national People's Liberation Army that President Xi Jinping initiated in 2016, security researchers and intelligence officials said.
The primary targets for these more sophisticated attacks: China's ethnic minorities and their diaspora in other countries, the researchers said. In several instances, hackers targeted the cellphones of a minority known as Uighurs, whose home region, Xinjiang , has been the site of a vast build-out of surveillance tech in recent years.
Hacking the hackers: Russian group hijacked Iranian spying operation, officials
The Russian group, known as “Turla” and accused by Estonian and Czech authorities of operating on behalf of Russia’s FSB security service, has used Iranian tools and computer infrastructure to successfully hack in to organizations in at least 20 different countries over the last 18 months, British security officials said.
The hacking campaign, the extent of which has not been previously revealed, was most active in the Middle East but also targeted organizations in Britain, they said.
Paul Chichester, a senior official at Britain’s GCHQ intelligence agency, said the operation shows state-backed hackers are working in a “very crowded space” and developing new attacks and methods to better cover their tracks.
In a statement accompanying a joint advisory with the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre said it wanted to raise industry awareness about the activity and make attacks more difficult for its adversaries.
Hackers shut down Johannesburg's networks once again. Officials say this time there is no ransom demand. https://t.co/VWpZzIi2kA HowellONeill (from Washington, DC) Fri Oct 25 19:08:11 +0000 2019
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