wired.com – Computer Security Articles

BlackCat Ransomware Group Implodes After Apparent $22M Payment by Change Healthcare

March 5, 2024 admin A Little Sunshine, alphv ransomware, blackcat ransomware, change healthcare, data breaches, dmitry smilyanets, emsisoft, fabian wosar, FBI, lockbit, NCA, optum, ramp, ransomware, Recorded Future, wired.com

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2024 00:22:56 +0000

There are indications that U.S. healthcare giant Change Healthcare has made a $22 million extortion payment to the infamous BlackCat ransomware group (a.k.a. “ALPHV”) as the company struggles to bring services back online amid a cyberattack that has disrupted prescription drug services nationwide for weeks. However, the cybercriminal who claims to have given BlackCat access to Change’s network says the crime gang cheated them out of their share of the ransom, and that they still have the sensitive data that Change reportedly paid the group to destroy. Meanwhile, the affiliate’s disclosure appears to have prompted BlackCat to cease operations entirely.

Independent Krebs

A Retrospective on the 2015 Ashley Madison Breach

July 26, 2022 admin A Little Sunshine, ashley madison breach, avid life media, Flashpoint, impact team, Intel 471, noel biderman, per thorsheim, robert graham, wired.com

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2022 01:04:51 +0000

It’s been seven years since the online cheating site AshleyMadison.com was hacked and highly sensitive data about its users posted online. The leak led to the public shaming and extortion of many AshleyMadison users, and to at least two suicides. To date, little is publicly known about the perpetrators or the true motivation for the attack. But a recent review of AshleyMadison mentions across Russian cybercrime forums and far-right underground websites in the months leading up to the hack revealed some previously unreported details that may deserve further scrutiny.

Independent Krebs

Alleged Child Porn Lord Faces US Extradition

March 22, 2019 admin A Little Sunshine, Brooke Donahue, Eric Eoin Marques, FBI, Firefox zero-day, Freedom Hosting, Ne'er-Do-Well News, RTE, The Coming Storm, The Irish Times, Tor, Tor Browser Bundle, Vlad Tsrklevich, wired.com

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2019 19:32:39 +0000

In 2013, the FBI exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Firefox to seize control over a Dark Web network of child pornography sites. The alleged owner of that ring – 33-year-old Freedom Hosting operator Eric Eoin Marques – was arrested in Ireland later that year on a U.S. warrant and has been in custody ever since. This week, Ireland’s Supreme Court cleared the way for Marques to be extradited to the United States.

Independent Krebs

When Security Researchers Pose as Cybercrooks, Who Can Tell the Difference?

October 2, 2018 admin A Little Sunshine, All American Entertainment, AngelList, Apollo, Arnie, data breaches, exactis, Facebook, Kickass, LinkedIn, Ne'er-Do-Well News, NightLion Security, Salesforce, Soundcard, TDO, Techcrunch, The Coming Storm, The Dark Overlord, Twitter, Vinny Troia, wired.com, Yelp

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2018 23:42:24 +0000

A ridiculous number of companies are exposing some or all of their proprietary and customer data by putting it in the cloud without any kind of authentication needed to read, alter or destroy it. When cybercriminals are the first to discover these missteps, usually the outcome is a demand for money in return for the stolen data. But when these screw-ups are unearthed by security professionals seeking to make a name for themselves, the resulting publicity often can leave the breached organization wishing they’d instead been quietly extorted by anonymous crooks.

Independent Krebs

Alleged Spam Kingpin ‘Severa’ Extradited to US

February 5, 2018 admin Alan Ralsky, Artem Sergeev, Conficker, Cosma, Dmitri A. Sergeev, fake news, Kelihos, Mikhail D. Prokhorov, Ne'er-Do-Well News, Peter Severa, Pyotr Yuryevich Levashov, Sergey Vladomirovich Sergeev, Severa, Spam Nation, Spamit, Vladimir V. Putin, waledac, wired.com

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Mon, 05 Feb 2018 18:28:30 +0000

Peter Yuryevich Levashov, a 37-year-old Russian computer programmer thought to be one of the world’s most notorious spam kingpins, has been extradited to the United States to face federal hacking and spamming charges. Levashov, who allegedly went by the hacker name “Peter Severa,” or “Peter of the North,” hails from St. Petersburg in northern Russia, but he was arrested last year while in Barcelona, Spain with his family. Authorities have long suspected he is the cybercriminal behind the once powerful spam botnet known as Waledac (a.k.a. “Kelihos”), a now-defunct malware strain responsible for sending more than 1.5 billion spam, phishing and malware attacks each day.

Independent Krebs

Fear Not: You, Too, Are a Cybercrime Victim!

October 4, 2017 admin Christina Tetreault, Consumer Reports, Consumers Union, credit freeze, credit lock, Equifax, House Energy & Commerce Committee, hurricane irma, irs, Other, Politico, Richard Smith, TALX, Wells Fargo, wired.com, Yahoo

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2017 04:34:50 +0000

Maybe you’ve been feeling left out because you weren’t among the lucky few hundred million or billion who had their personal information stolen in either the Equifax or Yahoo! breaches. Well buck up, camper: Both companies took steps to make you feel better today. Yahoo! announced that, our bad!: It wasn’t just one billion users who had their account information filched in its record-breaking 2013 data breach. It was more like three billion (read: all) users. Meanwhile, big three credit bureau Equifax added 2.5 million more victims to its roster of 143 million Americans who had their Social Security numbers and other personal data filched in a breach earlier this year. At the same time, Equifax’s erstwhile CEO informed Congress that the breach was the result of even more bone-headed security than was first disclosed. To those still feeling left out by either company after this spate of news, I have only one thing to say (although I feel a bit like a broken record in repeating this): Assume you’re compromised, and take steps accordingly.