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Malware menaces Minecraft mods

If you, or your kids, are fans of Minecraft - you might be wise not to download any new mods of plugins for a while. Computer security researchers say that they have uncovered that cybercriminals have succeeded in embedding malware named "Fracturizer" within packages and plugins used to modify the behaviour and appearance of the phenomenally...
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Rogue IT security worker failed to cover his tracks

Bad enough for your company to be held to ransom after a cyber attack. Worse still to then have one of your own employees exploit the attack in an attempt to steal the ransom for themselves. That's the situation gene and cell therapy firm Oxford BioMedica found itself in. On 27 February 2018, the Oxford-based firm discovered that it had suffered...
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Akira ransomware - what you need to know

What is Akira? Akira is a new family of ransomware, first used in cybercrime attacks in March 2023. Akira? Haven't we heard of that before? Maybe you're thinking of the cyberpunk Manga comic books and movie that came out in the 1980s. Or perhaps you're thinking of an unrelated ransomware of the same name which emerged in 2017. Maybe that's it....
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Patch now! The Mirai IoT botnet is exploiting TP-Link routers

Businesses should patch their TP-Link routers as soon as possible, after the revelation that a legendary IoT botnet is targeting them for recruitment. The notorious Mirai botnet, which hijacks control of vulnerable IoT devices, is now exploiting TP-Link Archer AX21 routers to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. The warning comes...
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US charges three men with six million dollar business email compromise plot

Three Nigerian nationals face charges in a US federal court related to a business email compromise (BEC) scam that is said to have stolen more than US $6 million from victims. 29-year-old Kosi Goodness Simon-Ebo was extradited from Canada to the United States earlier this month, according to a Department of Justice press release, and will appear...
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FTC accuses payments firm of knowingly assisting tech support scammers

Multinational payment processing firm Nexway has been rapped across the knuckles by the US authorities, who claim that the firm knowingly processed fraudulent credit card payments on behalf of tech support scammers. A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint argues that Nexway and its subsidiaries broke the law by helping scammers cheat money from unsuspecting consumers. Victims were tricked...
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Microsoft warns accounting firms of targeted attacks as Tax Day approaches

Accountants are being warned to be on their guard from malicious hackers, as cybercriminals exploit the rush to prepare tax returns for clients before the deadline of US Tax Day. US Tax Day, which falls on Tuesday April 18 this year, is the day on which income tax returns for individuals are due to be submitted to the government. Inevitably it's a...
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Free decryptor released for Conti-based ransomware following data leak

Security researchers have released a new decryption tool that should come to the rescue of some victims of a modified version of the Conti ransomware, helping them to recover their encrypted data for free. Conti was one of the most notorious ransomware groups, responsible for hundreds of attacks against organisations, which netted criminals over ...
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TSA tells US aviation industry to boost its cybersecurity

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued new requirements for airport and aircraft operators who, they say, are facing a "persistent cybersecurity threat." The agency's new directive compels the aviation industry to improve their defences against malicious hackers and cybercriminals, just days after Preisdent Biden announced...
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Trezor crypto wallets under attack in SMS phishing campaign

Willie Sutton, the criminal who became legendary for stealing from banks during a forty year career, was once asked, "Why do you keep robbing banks?" His answer? "Because that's where the money is." However, today there's a better target for robbers today than banks, which are typically well-defended against theft... Cryptocurrency wallets. ...
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Fake ChatGPT apps spread Windows and Android malware

OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot has been a phenomenon, taking the internet by storm. Whether it is composing poetry, writing essays for college students, or finding bugs in computer code, it has impressed millions of people and proven itself to be the most accessible form of artificial intelligence ever seen. Yes, there are plenty of fears about how the...
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Cybercriminal convicted of $90 million SEC earning reports hack

The owner of a Russian penetration-testing company has been found guilty of being part of an elaborate scheme that netted $90 million after stealing SEC earning reports. For nearly three years, 42-year-old Vladislav Klyushin - the owner of Moscow-based cybersecurity firm M-13 - and his co-conspirators had hacked into two US-based filing agents used...
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Romance fraud losses rose 91% during the pandemic, claims UK's TSB bank

UK banking group TSB is calling on social networks and dating apps to better protect their users from fake profiles, following an alarming spike in romance fraud. Examining data from December 2020 - January 2022, TSB determined that romance fraud almost doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels, with a record increase in losses of 91% - averaging £6...
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ShinyHunters suspect extradited to United States from Morocco, could face 116 years in jail if convicted

A 22-year-old suspected of being "Seyzo", a member of the ShinyHunters cybercrime gang, has been extradited from Morocco to the United States, where - if convicted - he could face up to 116 years in prison. Sebastien Raoult, a French national, was arrested at Rabat international airport in Morocco on May 31 2022, while trying to take a flight to...
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LockBit ransomware - what you need to know

I keep hearing about LockBit ransomware attacks. What's going on? It's no surprise if you have heard about LockBit. It is the world's most active ransomware group - responsible for an estimated 40% of all ransomware infections worldwide. I guess LockBit does the usual bad stuff - encrypt your data, steal your files, dump a ransom note on your PC.....