Pemex, Mexico's state-run oil company, is refusing to pay attackers a $5 million ransom after a ransomware attack against the firm's administrative offices, according to news reports. The company is still attempting to recover.
In two separate incidents on Monday, ransomware crippled the systems of a radio network and a major consulting firm in Spain, according to local news reports.
Ransomware continues to be a highly profitable cybercrime. Ransomware incident response firm Coveware reports that for the third quarter of this year, the average ransom amount paid was $41,198, a six-fold increase from the same period last year, driven by strains such as Ryuk and Sodinokibi.
For Russian-speaking hackers, ransomware used to be taboo. But GandCrab killed all such ethical qualms, democratizing ransomware-as-a-service, paving the way for new profit-sharing schemes such as Sodinokibi and driving a new generation of attackers to master advanced hacking skills, a new report finds.
A ransomware attack on the operator of non-profit clinics that serve the uninsured in St. Louis led to the breach of information on 152,000 patients, clinicians and employees. The organization says it did not pay a ransom, and IT experts have not been able to unlock the data encrypted by hackers.
Johannesburg has been hit with a ransomware attack that is crippling municipal services. City Power, an electric utility owned by the city that was hit by a similar attack in July - also was affected by the latest attack.
Billtrust, a cloud-based, business-to-business payment provider, reportedly is continuing to recover from a ransomware attack that crippled its computer systems.
Pitney Bowes says it was infected by file-encrypting malware that has affected online accounts and mailing products but that client data doesn't appear to be at risk. The postage meter maker says "all options" are being considered for recovery, meaning that it could pay a ransom.
Organizations must take a number of critical steps to prepare a response to ransomware attacks before they hit, says Caleb Barlow, the new president and CEO of security consulting firm CynergisTek, who offers a guide.
More than 600 ransomware attacks pummelled local governments, schools districts and healthcare providers across the U.S. in the first three quarters of this year, according to a study by security firm Emsisoft. Meanwhile, the FBI this week issued a fresh warning about the threat.
A recent rash of ransomware attacks in the U.S. healthcare sector shows the serious disruptions these assaults can pose - including temporarily, or even permanently, stopping patient care.
Medical facilities and hospitals across the state of Victoria in Australia were infected by file-encrypting ransomware on Monday, causing the shutdown of patient booking systems and financial systems. At least one hospital has reverted to using paper-based systems.
The city of Baltimore's ransomware outbreak - $18 million in costs and counting - led to many crypto-locked files being lost forever, because no IT policy mandated centralized file backups. But effective IT solutions exist to help solve this challenge, provided they're deployed in advance of an attack.
A ransomware attack late last week on a county hospital in rural Wyoming was still causing patient care disruptions on Monday. Some patients were sent more than 125 miles away to other area hospitals for treatment.
Ransomware-wielding attackers treat infecting endpoints as a business and put customer relationship management principles to work, says Bill Siegel, CEO of ransomware incident response firm Coveware. He notes criminals "go after the low-hanging fruit because it's cheap and the conversion rate is high."
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