ransomware
Yanluowang initial access broker pleaded guilty to ransomware attacks
A Russian national will plead guilty to acting as an initial access broker (IAB) for Yanluowang ransomware attacks that targeted at least eight U.S. companies between July 2021 and November 2022. According to a plea agreement signed by the defendant on October 29, first spotted by Court Watch editor Seamus Hughes, Aleksey Olegovich Volkov (who used the “chubaka.kor” and “nets” aliases) […]
AI-Slop ransomware test sneaks on to VS Code marketplace
A malicious extension with basic ransomware capabilities seemingly created with the help of AI, has been published on Microsoft’s official VS Code marketplace. Named susvsex and published by ‘suspublisher18,’ the extension’s malicious functionality is openly advertised in its description. Secure Annex researcher John Tuckner discovered susvsex and says that it is the product of “vibe coding” and is far from sophisticated. Despite […]
How a ransomware gang encrypted Nevada government’s systems
The State of Nevada has published an after-action report detailing how hackers breached its systems to deploy ransomware in August, and the actions taken to recover from the attack. The document is one of the few completely transparent technical report from a federal government in the U.S. on a cybersecurity incident, describing all the steps […]
Gootloader malware is back with new tricks after 7-month break
The Gootloader malware loader operation has returned after a 7-month absence and is once again performing SEO poisoning to promote fake websites that distribute the malware. Gootloader is a JavaScript-based malware loader spread through compromised or attacker-controlled websites, used to trick users into downloading malicious documents. The websites are promoted in search engines either via […]
Apache OpenOffice disputes data breach claims by ransomware gang
The Apache Software Foundation disputes claims that its OpenOffice project suffered an Akira ransomware attack, after the threat actors claimed to have stolen 23 GB of corporate documents. Apache OpenOffice is a free, open-source office suite that includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and database tools. It’s compatible with major file formats, such as Word […]
CISA: High-severity Linux flaw now exploited by ransomware gangs
CISA confirmed on Thursday that a high-severity privilege escalation flaw in the Linux kernel is now being exploited in ransomware attacks. While the vulnerability (tracked as CVE-2024-1086) was disclosed on January 31, 2024, as a use-after-free weakness in the netfilter: nf_tables kernel component and was fixed via a commit submitted in January 2024, it was first introduced […]
Ukrainian extradited from Ireland on Conti ransomware charges
A Ukrainian national believed to be a member of the Conti ransomware operation has been extradited to the United States and faces charges that could get him 25 years in prison. 43-year-old Oleksii Oleksiyovych Lytvynenko allegedly controlled data stolen from many of Conti victims and was involved in sending ransom notes as part of the […]
BPO giant Conduent confirms data breach impacts 10.5 million people
American business services giant Conduent has confirmed that a 2024 data breach has impacted over 10.5 million people, according to notifications filed with the US Attorney General’s offices. Conduent is an American business process outsourcing (BPO) company that provides digital platforms and services for governments and enterprises. The company was spun off from Xerox in 2017 […]
Qilin ransomware abuses WSL to run Linux encryptors in Windows
The Qilin ransomware operation was spotted executing Linux encryptors in Windows using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to evade detection by traditional security tools. The ransomware first launched as “Agenda” in August 2022, rebranding to Qilin by September and continuing to operate under that name to this day. Qilin has become one of the most […]
Ransomware profits drop as victims stop paying hackers
The number of victims paying ransomware threat actors has reached a new low, with just 23% of the breached companies giving in to attackers’ demands. With some exceptions, the decline in payment resolution rates continues the trend that Coveware has observed for the past six years. In the first quarter of 2024, the payment percentage was […]