HDD Disposal: Best Security Practices

You’re getting a new computer, or just replacing your hard disk drive (HDD) with a solid-state drive. What do you do with your old storage media?  This is one of the most common questions we receive — and it’s an...
August 28, 2024

Cybersecurity Terms: What Is a Zero-Day Exploit? 

A zero-day exploit refers to any cyberattack that uses an unaddressed attack vector.  For example, Microsoft Windows operating systems are regularly patched to address potentially serious security issues — and as soon as those issues are discovered, Microsoft has “zero...
August 7, 2024

Magniber Ransomware: What Home Computer Users Should Know

Ransomware groups frequently target organizations — not home users — for an obvious reason: Businesses, non-profits, and government agencies are much more likely to pay. In recent years, we’ve seen massive attacks against healthcare systems, casinos, and even federal government...
August 6, 2024

FBI Charges North Korean for Ransomware Attacks on Hospitals, Offers $10 Million Reward

The FBI has charged a North Korean man for allegedly contributing to a massive information exfiltration campaign against hospitals, U.S. military institutions, and scientific research organizations.  Rim John Kyok is allegedly part of Andariel, a ransomware group that allegedly compromised...
July 25, 2024

Europol: Ransomware-as-a-Service Operations Are Losing Users

Cybercriminals are moving away from popular ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) platforms thanks to major efforts from law enforcement agencies, per a recent threat assessment published by Europol. RaaS is a business model in which cybercriminals provide ransomware software and infrastructure to...
July 25, 2024

Don’t Use CHKDSK On a Failing Hard Drive

Recently, we searched for “failing hard drives” to see whether the internet was dispensing bad advice regarding drive failures (and to see if our name came up). Google’s experimental A.I. answered our question — and promptly provided instructions that could...
July 23, 2024

Ransomware Attack Forces Los Angeles County Courts to Close

The Los Angeles County Superior Court is reeling from a major ransomware attack, per an announcement from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.  The attack has impacted the entirety of the Superior Court’s operations, essentially grinding its systems to a halt....
July 22, 2024

Sacramento Credit Union Announces Outage Due to Ransomware Attack

Patelco Credit Union, a Sacramento-based credit union with 37 local branches, has confirmed that its recent security breach occurred due to a ransomware attack.  In an email sent to the members of the credit union, Patelco CEO Erin Mendez said...
July 2, 2024

Lockbit Ransomware Group Announces Breach of U.S. Federal Reserve

The Lockbit 3.0 ransomware group claims to have breached the United States Federal Reserve, exfiltrating about 33 terabytes of potentially sensitive data.  The group claims that the stolen data includes “Americans’ banking secrets,” though they have not yet published any...
June 24, 2024

Ransomware Attack Causes Blood Shortages at London Hospitals 

A ransomware attack targeting Synnovis, a U.K. healthcare partnership, has significantly disrupted medical procedures in several of London’s largest hospitals.  The incident has prevented hospitals from matching patients’ blood types at a normal frequency. Surgeries and other procedures that require...
June 12, 2024