Only Half of Ransomware Payments Resulted in Decrypted Files

A report from a leading research firm found a startling statistic for 2017: only half of ransomware victims who paid a ransom were able to successfully decrypt their files. These findings and others in the report offer even more incentive...
March 21, 2018

SamSam Ransomware Infects CDOT

SamSam ransomware has infected thousands of computers at the Colorado Department of Transportation. Over 2,000 employee computers were shut down to stop the spread of the malware after it was discovered on Feb. 21, and systems are still not back...
March 19, 2018

US and Britain Blame Russian Military for NotPetya

British and US officials publicly blamed Russia for the NotPetya ransomware attack that occurred on June 27, 2017. Ukrainian organizations, including the state power company and Kiev’s main airport, were among the first to report being affected, and approximately 80 ...
February 20, 2018

Samsung Introduces 30.72 Terabyte Solid-State Drive

Korean media giant Samsung has set a new record with their PM1643, a 30.72-terabyte solid state drive (SSD) designed for enterprise storage systems. The drive is the largest Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) solid-state drive in the world, per a press ...
February 20, 2018

Malware Report Sheds Light on Underreported Cybercrimes

A New York Times report revealed that law enforcement investigating cybercrimes can face many challenges including incomplete data, outdated statistical categories, and a lack of funding for cyber divisions. These problems hinder the solving of not just digital crimes, but...
February 7, 2018

Cybercriminals Ditch Bitcoin in Search of Better Cryptocurrency

Cybercriminals are embracing alternative cryptocurrencies due to a multitude of concerns over bitcoin. Bitcoin’s newfound popularity has led to booming and busting prices, higher transaction fees, and longer wait times to confirm transactions. Harder-to-trace and cheaper-to-use digital currencies such as...
January 25, 2018

Indiana Hospital Pays $55,000 to Get Rid of Ransomware

On January 11, Hancock Health became the latest medical center to fall victim to a ransomware attack. The Greenfield, Indiana hospital says its files were backed up, but opted to pay the $55,000 ransom anyway to more quickly restore its...
January 24, 2018

Patches for Meltdown and Spectre Fix Flaws But Cause Slowdowns

Intel began the new year with the embarrassing announcement that researchers discovered vulnerabilities built into most of the processors the company has built in the last two decades. The security flaws affect nearly everyone and could allow a hacker to...
January 16, 2018

Cybersecurity Still a Major Issue for the Internet of Things

Early last year, we warned that the Internet of Things (IoT) had major security vulnerabilities, and it was a matter of time until hackers targeted it. And while smart devices have largely evaded ransomware attacks (though some IoT devices were...
January 11, 2018

Schools, Non-Profits, Local Governments, and Medical Centers Hit by Ransomware in 2017

Three major ransomware attacks dominated the headlines in 2017, but there were also dozens of smaller incidents that paralyzed organizations and businesses throughout the year. Because many cyber attacks go unreported, we can only guess at the full extent of...
January 10, 2018