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Snake Ransomware Slithers Through Networks
A new ransomware variant, dubbed “Snake,”
has been found using more sophisticated obfuscation while targeting entire
networks, rather than only one machine. In addition, Snake will append any
encrypted file extensions with five random characters following the filetype
itself. Finally, the infection also modifies a specific file marker and replaces
it with “EKANS,” or SNAKE spelled backwards. A free decryptor hasn’t been
released yet, and the malware authors have specified that that encryption will
be for entire networks only.
Minnesota Hospital Data Breach
Sensitive information belonging to nearly 50,000 patients of
a Minnesota
hospital has been illicitly accessed after multiple employee email
addresses were compromised. While in most cases the information accessed was
medical data and basic contact info, some patients may have also had their
Social Security and driver’s license numbers compromised. Alomere Health has
already contacted affected patients and begun providing credit and identity
monitoring services.
Cyberattack Finally Cracks Las Vegas Security
For a city that is the target of roughly 280,000 cyber
attacks every month, one attack was finally able to make it through Las
Vegas security protocols. The attack appears to have stemmed from a
malicious email but was quickly quarantined by city IT officials before it
could do any critical damage. Earlier in 2019, Las Vegas officials proposed a
measure to refuse payments to any cybersecurity threat actors.
Travelex Falls Victim to Sodinokibi Ransomware
On the first day of 2020, foreign travel service provider Travelex
experienced a ransomware attack that used unsecured VPNs to infiltrate their
systems. To make matters worse, a demand of $6 million has been placed on the
company for the return of their data, or else the ransom will be doubled. Since
this attack, a scoreboard has been created to track the six additional victims
of the Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware campaign.
ATM Skimmer Arrested in New York
At least one individual has been arrested in connection to
an ATM
skimming ring that has taken over $400,000 from banks in New York and surrounding
states. From 2014 to 2016, this group installed card skimmers in an
unidentified number of ATMs in order to steal card credentials and build up
fraudulent charges. Eleven other people are connected with this incident and
will also likely be charged.
The post Cyber News Rundown: Snake Ransomware appeared first on Webroot Blog.