Tag: malware

Interpol warns of ‘alarming’ cybercrime rate during pandemic, to spike again once vaccine becomes available

  LYON, France (AFP) — Global police body Interpol warned Monday of an “alarming” rate of cybercrime during the coronavirus pandemic, with criminals taking advantage of people working from home to target major institutions. An assessment by the Lyon-based organisation found a “significant target shift” by criminals from individuals and small businesses to major corporations, governments and critical infrastructure. “Cybercriminals are developing and boosting their attacks at an alarming pace, exploiting the fear and uncertainty […]

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‘Advanced’ cyber attack targets Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi authorities said Monday they had detected an “advanced” cyber attack targeting the kingdom, in a fresh attempt by hackers to disrupt government computers. The government’s National Cyber Security Centre said the attack involved the use of “Powershell” malware, but it did not comment on the source of the attack or which government bodies were targeted. “The NCSC has detected a new Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) that is targeting Saudi […]

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New malware attack hits parts of Europe

by Dmitry Zaks Agence France Presse KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — A cyber attack hit a Ukrainian international airport and three Russian media outlets Tuesday before also being detected by IT experts in Germany and at least two other European states. The malware called “BadRabbit” appeared to be the largest since “NotPetya” was launched from the same two countries before affecting the rest of the world in July. US and Russian cybersecurity experts said the computer […]

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World braces for more cyberattacks as work week begins

by Robin Millard Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Governments and computer experts girded Monday for a possible worsening of the global cyberattack that has hit more than 150 countries, as Microsoft warned against stockpiling vulnerabilities like the one at the heart of the crisis. European policing and security agencies said the fallout from a ransomware attack that has already crippled more than 200,000 computers around the world could deepen as people return for another […]

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Researcher finds ‘kill switch’ for cyberattack ransomware

by Kate Bartlett Agence France-Presse HONGKONG, China (AFP) – A cybersecurity researcher appears to have discovered a “kill switch” that can prevent the spread of the WannaCry ransomware — for now — that has caused the cyberattacks wreaking havoc globally, they told AFP Saturday. The researcher, tweeting as @MalwareTechBlog, said the discovery was accidental, but that registering a domain name used by the malware stops it from spreading. “Essentially they relied on a domain not […]

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Researcher finds ‘kill switch’ for cyberattack ransomeware

by Kate BARTLETT Agence France-Press HONG KONG, China (AFP) – A cybersecurity researcher appears to have discovered a “kill switch” that can prevent the spread of the WannaCry ransomware — for now — that has caused the cyberattacks wreaking havoc globally, they told AFP Saturday. The researcher, tweeting as @MalwareTechBlog, said the discovery was accidental, but that registering a domain name used by the malware stops it from spreading. “Essentially they relied on a domain […]

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Apple on alert for Chinese malware in apps

A first-of-its-kind hack attack hits Apple. iPhone and iPad users are vulnerable to malware embedded in popular Chinese apps from Apple’s App Store. WeChat – one of the most popular messaging apps in China – is among dozens of legitimate apps infected with the malicious code. Rather than using the official release of the developer code from Apple’s U.S. servers, developers downloaded the hacked code – dubbed XcodeGhost – from a server in China because […]

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