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Research Reveals Data Breaches On The Rise at UK Law Firms

British legal professionals have seen a "significant surge" in data breaches, according to new research from NetDocuments, a firm that provides a cloud-based content management platform for the legal sector.The firm has described how it analysed data from the UK regulator the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), and discovered that the number of data breaches in the country's legal sector had...
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Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Role in $50M Internet Scam

A California man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme that saw over 50 individuals and organisations lose millions of dollars.59-year-old Allen Giltman, of Irvine, California, pleaded guilty to charges that he and his co-conspirators built a network of fraudulent websites impersonating legitimate financial institutions.According to a US Department...
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New Law Could Mean Prison for Reporting Data Leaks

The Turkish government is proposing a controversial new cybersecurity law that could make it a criminal act to report on data breaches. The new legislation proposes penalties for various cybersecurity-related offences. But they key one which has people concerned is this:"Those who carry out activities aimed at targeting institutions or individuals by creating the perception that there has been a...
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Medusa Ransomware: What You Need To Know

What is the Medusa ransomware?Medusa is a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) platform that first came to prominence in 2023. The ransomware impacts organisations running Windows, predominantly exploiting vulnerable and unpatched systems and hijacking accounts through initial access brokers.Initial access brokers?Initial access brokers (IABs) specialise in gaining unauthorised access to the networks of...
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Space Bears Ransomware: What You Need To Know

What is Space Bears?Space Bear is a relatively new ransomware group that first appeared on the radar in April 2024. The gang, which is aligned to the Phobos ransomware-as-a-service group, steals sensitive data from organisations, encrypts victims' computer systems, and demands that a ransom be paid for a decryption key or the data will be published on the dark web.So far, so normal. What makes...
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The Top 10 State of Security Blog Posts From 2024

As we approach the end of another exciting year in the world of cybersecurity, it's the perfect time to reflect on the stories, insights, and guidance that resonated most with our readers.2024 brought new challenges and opportunities with the rapid adoption of AI, evolving ransomware tactics, and an increased focus on proactive security measures. These trends shaped the conversations on Fortra’s...
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27 DDoS-For-Hire Services Disrupted In Run-Up To Holiday Season

In a co-ordinated international effort, the law enforcement agencies of 15 countries have made the holiday season a little less stressful for companies and consumers - by seizing control of some of the internet's most popular DDoS-for-hire services.Operation PowerOFF has disrupted what was anticipated to be a surge of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks over the Christmas period by taking...
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3AM Ransomware: What You Need To Know

What is 3AM?3AM (also known as ThreeAM) is a ransomware group that first emerged in late 2023. Like other ransomware threats, 3AM exfiltrates victims' data (threatening to release it publicly unless a ransom is paid) and encrypts the copies left on targeted organisations' computer systems.So it's the normal story with ransomware - exfiltrate, encrypt, extort?Pretty much - but there are some...
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Money-Laundering Network Linked To Drugs and Ransomware Disrupted

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has revealed details of Operation Destabilise, a years-long international law enforcement investigation into a giant Russian money laundering enterprise that handled billions of dollars for drug traffickers and ransomware gangs worldwide. The multi-billion dollar Smart and TGR networks are said to have used a complex system of cash handovers and cryptocurrency...
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Tech Support Scams Exploit Google Ads to Target Users

It's not a new technique, but that doesn't mean that cybercriminals cannot make rich rewards from SEO poisoning. SEO poisoning is the dark art of manipulating search engines to ensure that malware-laced adverts and dangerous websites appear high on users' results - often impersonating legitimate businesses and organisations. But the simplest way of all to get a malicious website in front of a...
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Mimic Ransomware: What You Need To Know

What is Mimic?Mimic is family of ransomware, first found in-the-wild in 2022. In common with many other ransomware attacks, Mimic encrypts a victim's files, and demands a ransom payment in cryptocurrency for the release of a decryption key.Does Mimic also steal data?Yes, some variants of Mimic can also exfiltrate data from a user's computers before it is encrypted - the stolen data is typically...
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750,000 Patients' Medical Records Exposed After Data Breach at French Hospital

When we think about our data being leaked onto the internet, we often picture it as our financial records, our passwords, our names and addresses... what is less often considered is the exposure of our private medical information.A French hospital has found itself in the unenviable position of learning that hackers have gained access to the medical records of over 750,000 patients following a...
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ShrinkLocker Ransomware: What You Need To Know

What is ShrinkLocker?ShrinkLocker is a family of ransomware that encrypts an organisation's data and demands a ransom payment in order to restore access to their files. It was first identified by security researchers in May 2024, after attacks were observed in Mexico, Indonesia, and Jordan.So far, so normal. What makes it noteworthy?The ShrinkLocker ransomware is unusual because it uses VBScript...
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Winter Fuel Payment Scam Targets UK Citizens Via SMS

Scammers have leapt at the opportunity to exploit vulnerable UK residents by sending bogus messages telling them they need to take action to receive help with their winter heating bills. In July, the UK's new Labour Government announced that it was limiting who was eligible for assistance with their winter fuel bills by making eligibility means-tested. The controversial decision appears to have...
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Fraudsters Exploit US General Election Fever, FBI Warns

As the United States of America enters the final days of the race for the White House, the FBI has warned that fraudsters are using the presidential election campaign to scam citizens out of their savings and personal data.According to a public service announcement published by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), scammers who have previously exploited state and local elections are targeting...
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NotLockBit: Ransomware Discovery Serves As Wake-Up Call For Mac Users

Historically, Mac users haven't had to worry about malware as much as their Windows-using cousins. Although malware targeting Apple devices actually predates viruses written for PCs, and there have been some families of malware that have presented a significant threat for both operating systems (for instance, the Word macro viruses that hit computers hard from 1995 onwards), it is generally the...
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Glimmer Of Good News On The Ransomware Front As Encryption Rates Plummet

No-one would be bold enough to say that the ransomware problem is receding, but a newly-published report by Microsoft does deliver a slither of encouraging news amongst the gloom. And boy do we need some good news - amid reports that 389 US-based healthcare institutions were hit by ransomware last year - more than one every single day. The 114-page Microsoft Digital Defense Report (MMDR) looks at...
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Tick Tock.. Operation Cronos Arrests More LockBit Ransomware Gang Suspects

International law enforcement agencies have scored another victory against the LockBit gang, with a series of arrests and the seizure of servers used within the notorious ransomware group's infrastructure. As Europol has detailed in a press release, international authorities have continued to work on "Operation Cronos", and now arrested four people, seized servers, and implemented sanctions...
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CISA Warns of Hackers Targeting Industrial Systems with "Unsophisticated Methods" Amid Lebanon Water Hack Claims

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned that malicious hackers continue to be capable of compromising industrial control systems (ICS) and other operational technology (OT) using "unsophisticated methods" - suggesting that much more still needs to be done to secure them properly.In an advisory posted on CISA's website yesterday, the agency said that internet...
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Warnings After New Valencia Ransomware Group Strikes Businesses and Leaks Data

A new ransomware operation has started to leak information it claims has been stolen from organisations it has compromised around the world.In recent days Valencia Ransomware has posted on its dark web leak site's so-called "Wall of shame" links to gigabytes of downloadable information that has seemingly been exfiltrated from a Californian municipality, a pharmaceutical firm, and a paper...