Tag Archives: ransomware

Pro basketball player and 4 youths arrested in connection to ransomware crimes

Authorities in Europe have detained five people, including a former Russian professional basketball player, in connection with crime syndicates responsible for ransomware attacks. Until recently, one of the suspects, Daniil Kasatkin, played for MBA Moscow, a basketball team that’s part of the VTB United League, which includes teams from Russia and other Eastern European countries.… Read More: Pro basketball player and 4 youths arrested in connection to… »

Ransomware kingpin “Stern” apparently IDed by German law enforcement

Stern’s eminence within Russian cybercrime has been widely documented. The cryptocurrency-tracing firm Chainalysis does not publicly name cybercriminal actors and declined to comment on BKA’s identification, but the company emphasized that the Stern persona alone is one of the all-time most profitable ransomware actors it tracks. “The investigation revealed that Stern generated significant revenues from… Read More: Ransomware kingpin “Stern” apparently IDed by German law enforcement »

“The girl should be calling men.” Leak exposes Black Basta’s influence tactics.

A leak of 190,000 chat messages traded among members of the Black Basta ransomware group shows that it’s a highly structured and mostly efficient organization staffed by personnel with expertise in various specialities, including exploit development, infrastructure optimization, social engineering, and more. The trove of records was first posted to file-sharing site MEGA. The messages,… Read More: “The girl should be calling men.” Leak exposes Black Basta’s… »

Leaked chat logs expose inner workings of secretive ransomware group

Researchers who have read the Russian-language texts said they exposed internal rifts in the secretive organization that have escalated since one of its leaders was arrested because it increases the threat of other members being tracked down as well. The heightened tensions have contributed to growing rifts between the current leader, believed to be Oleg… Read More: Leaked chat logs expose inner workings of secretive ransomware group »

Notorious crooks broke into a company network in 48 minutes. Here’s how.

In December, roughly a dozen employees inside a manufacturing company received a tsunami of phishing messages that was so big they were unable to perform their day-to-day functions. A little over an hour later, the people behind the email flood had burrowed into the nether reaches of the company’s network. This is a story about… Read More: Notorious crooks broke into a company network in 48 minutes.… »

Ransomware payments declined in 2024 despite massive. well-known hacks

While the decline in payments during the second half of 2024 is significant for being the largest ever in Chainalysis’ data, the number of ransomware attacks and volume of payments has fluctuated and declined before. Notably, researchers saw a marked decrease in activity in 2022, a year in which Chainalysis placed total ransomware payments at… Read More: Ransomware payments declined in 2024 despite massive. well-known hacks »

Health care giant Ascension says 5.6 million patients affected in cyberattack

Health care company Ascension lost sensitive data for nearly 5.6 million individuals in a cyberattack that was attributed to a notorious ransomware gang, according to documents filed with the attorney general of Maine. Ascension owns 140 hospitals and scores of assisted living facilities. In May, the organization was hit with an attack that caused mass… Read More: Health care giant Ascension says 5.6 million patients affected in… »

Russian court sentences kingpin of Hydra drug marketplace to life in prison

Available over the Tor network, Hydra was a bazaar that brokered not just drugs but also fake documents, cryptocurrency laundering services, and other illicit goods and services. Nine months after Hydra was taken down, authorities came for Bitzlato, a cryptocurrency exchange that laundered “a substantial portion of the cryptocurrency that Hydra received.” In all, authorities… Read More: Russian court sentences kingpin of Hydra drug marketplace to life… »

City of Columbus sues man after he discloses severity of ransomware attack

reader comments 125 A judge in Ohio has issued a temporary restraining order against a security researcher who presented evidence that a recent ransomware attack on the city of Columbus scooped up reams of sensitive personal information, contradicting claims made by city officials. The order, issued by a judge in Ohio’s Franklin County, came after… Read More: City of Columbus sues man after he discloses severity of… »

Hackers exploit VMware vulnerability that gives them hypervisor admin

Getty Images reader comments 51 Microsoft is urging users of VMware’s ESXi hypervisor to take immediate action to ward off ongoing attacks by ransomware groups that give them full administrative control of the servers the product runs on. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-37085, allows attackers who have already gained limited system rights on a targeted… Read More: Hackers exploit VMware vulnerability that gives them hypervisor admin »