Tag Archive for: coalition

New coalition aims to combat growing wave of ransomware attacks

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A new coalition of cybersecurity and tech groups is looking to create a roadmap for countering the surge of ransomware attacks that plagued city governments, schools and hospitals in 2020.

“You see ransomware as not just an increasing security threat, it is to the level of now where it’s putting hospitals, children, the elderly, financial institutions, everyone at risk,” Philip Reiner, executive chairman of the Institute for Security and Technology’s Ransomware Task Force, told The Hill.

“As a result, we were seized with the idea that creating a collaborative cross-sectoral grouping that is looking at it from a comprehensive, top-down policy approach could potentially have more effect,” Reiner added.

The California-based nonprofit aims to produce recommendations that will help governments and the private sector tackle the scourge of ransomware attacks.

Hackers have increasingly used these types of attacks — which involve accessing and encrypting the victim’s network and demanding payment to allow access again — to hit major targets, with city governments in Atlanta, Baltimore and New Orleans severely impaired by ransomware attacks over the past two years.

More recently, hospitals have become a target during the COVID-19 pandemic, with cyber criminals seeing vulnerable hospitals as easy targets more likely to pay a quick ransom as health care systems struggle to keep up with coronavirus cases. In some instances, the cyberattacks have been blamed for deaths due to delayed care.

“Ransomware has evolved from an economic annoyance to a national security and public health and safety threat,” said Michael Daniel, who served as special assistant to former President Obama and cybersecurity coordinator on the National Security Council. “It is affecting almost every sector of the economy and every size of organization, both public and private.”

Daniel now serves as president and CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance, one of the groups that has signed on as a member of the newly formed coalition.

The coalition’s task force is made up of heavy hitters in the cybersecurity and tech sector, including Microsoft, FireEye and McAfee, along with cyber-focused groups like the CyberPeace…

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Coalition Against Stalkerware’s One Year Anniversary Recognizes Milestones, New Members and Celebrates UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women | Coronavirus

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WOBURN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov 25, 2020–

Today, the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women also coincides closely with the Coalition Against Stalkerware’s one year anniversary. In its first year, the Coalition has more than doubled its membership, expanding both in geography and expertise in its partners including domestic violence advocacy and direct service organizations, IT security vendors, mobile security companies, privacy solutions providers, an association of technology journalists, and organizations focused on cyber safety.

For some years, the problem of stalkerware has been on the rise. Non-profit organizations are experiencing a growing number of survivors seeking help with the problem, and cybersecurity companies are detecting a consistent increase in these harmful applications. Launched in November 2019, the Coalition Against Stalkerware became an important organization dedicated to protecting consumers from abuse, stalking and harassment via commercially-available surveillance software.

Stalkerware programs enable an abuser to intrude into a person’s private life and can be used as a tool for abuse in cases of domestic violence and stalking. By installing these applications on a person’s device, abusers can get access to their victim’s messages, photos, social media, geolocation, audio or camera recordings (in some cases, this can be done in real-time). Such programs run hidden in the background, without a victim’s knowledge or consent.

Data from member organizations has shown a sharp rise in stalkerware apps in recent years.

  • In 2019, Kaspersky detected a 67% year-on-year increase of stalkerware usage on its users’ mobile devices at a global level. The number of stalkerware installations worldwide during the first 10 months of 2020 (from January to October) totaled more than 48,500, which is close to the total (almost 52,000 installations) observed over the same period in 2019.
  • According to Malwarebytes, while these apps have always presented a significant threat to users, the shelter-in-place orders that began taking effect in March 2020 resulted in a dramatic uptick in usage….

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Coalition berates Commonwealth Bank over failure to notify customers after data breach

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  1. Coalition berates Commonwealth Bank over failure to notify customers after data breach  The Guardian

  2. Australia’s Commonwealth Bank admits 2016 data breach  Aljazeera.com
  3. The CBA’s data breach of 19 million accounts  ABC Online
  4. 2016 customer information incident – CommBank  CommBank
  5. Commonwealth Bank admits it lost account data  The Australian

    6. Full coverage

data breach – read more

Coalition says Chinese cyber espionage must be stopped – The Australian

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Coalition says Chinese cyber espionage must be stopped
The Australian
THE Coalition has delivered a strong warning about the threat to Australia posed by China's cyber espionage and declared that the spying must be stopped. Opposition defence spokesman David Johnson said bluntly yesterday it was clear that a notorious …
China cyber spying a problem: JohnstonThe Daily Telegraph

all 6 news articles »

Espionage China – read more