According to American media unidentified hackers recently breached at least one US critical infrastructure. “Since May, hackers have been penetrating the computer networks of companies that operate nuclear power stations and other energy facilities.” (The New York Times, July 6th)
“Today we see more attacks on ICS, industrial control systems, and scada systems”, says Robert McArdle, EMEA Threat Research Lead at Trend Micro.
A large-scale ransomware attack reported to be caused by a variant of the Petya ransomware is currently hitting various users, particularly in Europe. This variant, which Trend Micro already detects as RANSOM_PETYA.SMA, is known to use both the EternalBlue exploit and the PsExec tool as infection vectors.
A ground-breaking new study from Trend Micro has revealed for the first time the size and maturity of the online fake news business, where a 12-month campaign to influence the result of an election could cost as little as €357.700.
The comprehensive 77-page report breaks down the key steps used to influence public opinion: from reconnaissance of the target audience and weaponisation – preparation of the fake story – to delivery and exploitation via social media, and sustainment with additional propaganda. Continue reading
The Wannacry ransomware has been keeping us busy for several days now. This software has infected systems worldwide by exploiting an older (already patched) Windows vulnerability. Though many may wonder how a vulnerability that has been patched can still infect so many systems worldwide, it appears that the attack hasn’t brought in much money yet. Considering the attack and the errors made by the criminals, I wonder if this attack hasn’t been a first test or a general rehearsal for a much bigger attack. Continue reading
In the never-ending war against cybercrime, half the battle lies in raising public awareness about the nature of the threats out there. If everyday computers users are more clued into the security and privacy dangers facing them online, they’re more likely to take steps to reduce risk. But there’s always more to learn – that’s the problem when you’re faced with a fast-moving industry like cybercrime. Continue reading
All crime reflects the culture that it happens in. What is perfectly legal in one country can be a serious crime in another. What makes the difference, generally, is the different cultures in those counties. Cultural reflections in crime are something you see in online crime as well.
While there are some things that are universal to online crime around the globe (like malware), a lot of online crime reflects the culture just like real-world crime does. This is a theme that has emerged over the past three years in our ongoing investigations into the different countries’ markets that make up the global Cybercrime Underground Economy. We’ve just released our latest report in that series, focusing on France, a new addition to our country roster. Continue reading
If you’re reading this posting, odds are that you or someone you know is the victim of a ransomware attack. Ransomware continues to grow as a prevalent threat . The number of new ransomware families we saw in the first half of 2016 alone has already eclipsed the total 2015 volume by 172%. With ransomware attacks becoming more and more sophisticated and prevalent, we believe that the threat will potentially cause more damage going into the second half of the year.
This post is meant to tell you exactly what we think you should do if you’re looking at a ransomware screen. Most importantly, here’s what you shouldn’t do …. pay the ransom. I can’t emphasize that enough: don’t pay the ransom. Continue reading
Last mont, shortly after the dramatic events in Paris, the online hacker community Anonymous announced more actions against IS (Islamic State). One of these actions was Anonymous’ appeal to everybody to make Friday 11 December ‘IS Trolling Day’, by criticizing and ridiculing IS on social media. This appeal followed actions by Anonymous hacktivists, such as blocking and publicly exposing hundreds of IS-related Twitter-accounts. Continue reading
It has been a quite interesting week for me. Believe it or not, I don’t get the opportunity to speak on two national (Radio 1 and BNR) radio broadcasting channels every week. The reason for this sudden interest? Trend Micro’s research on identity theft and the Deep Web, which made quite an impression. So of course I want to share this with our loyal audience as well. Continue reading