Tag Archive for: faces

India Faces Soaring Ransomware and Malware Threats

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RansomwareIndia’s cybersecurity landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, marked by a significant uptick in ransomware and malware threats. In the first half of 2023, sectors vital to the nation’s economy, including Banking, Manufacturing, and Government, found themselves on high alert as they grapple with a growing wave of cyber challenges. The report highlights these pressing concerns, urging organizations to fortify their defenses and adopt proactive cybersecurity measures to safeguard against evolving cyber threats.

India’s cybersecurity landscape is under siege as ransomware and malware threats reach alarming heights, prompting an urgent call for robust defense strategies. Ransomware attacks surged, with a staggering 1,24,209 threats detected. These attacks targeted various sectors, with Banking, Manufacturing, and Retail industries reporting the highest number of incidents. Notable ransomware families such as StopCrypt, LOCKBIT, and BLACKCAT wreaked havoc in the Indian cybersecurity landscape. In January this year Mimic, a new ransomware group, was also discovered that abuses legitimate search tools. Mimic’s code is very similar to the 2022 Conti ransomware code and it mainly targets Russian and English-speaking users.

Simultaneously, malware incidents were on the rise. India ranked among the top five countries globally for malware detections, accounting for 5.5% of all threats. Online banking malware detection in India ranked 4th globally at 8.2% of all global threats in the first half of 2023. Manufacturing, Government, and Banking industries in India were the hardest hit, with malware families like COIMINER, MIMIKATZ, and POWLOAD posing significant risks.

Vijendra Katiyar, Country Manager for India & SAARC at Trend Micro said, “India is at a crossroads in cybersecurity. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, our digital defenses are constantly being challenged. The rise of ransomware and malware attacks has had a significant impact on key sectors of our economy. To stay ahead of the curve, organizations need to be proactive in anticipating threats and bolstering their defenses with a unified cybersecurity platform.”

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Royal Family Website Faces Cyber Attack By Russian Hackers: Report

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Royal Family Website Faces Cyber Attack By Russian Hackers: Report

The Royal family’s website was up and running again by midday

The Royal Family’s official website went down for about an hour and a half in the early hours of Sunday morning after being targeted by a cyber attack, The Telegraph reported. As per the report, no access to the website, its systems, or its content was gained. Upon visiting the URL, royal. uk, the page displayed an error message, ”Gateway time-out Error code 504.” 

”We’ve just received breaking news that the Royal Family website has crashed after allegedly being targeted by Russian hackers who have reportedly taken responsibility for the attack on social media. “If you try to access the website, you get an error message,” Sky News host Caroline Di Russo said. 

Russian hacker group Killnet has claimed responsibility for the cyber attack. In a message shared on Telegram, a messaging app, the hacker added a link to the website which provided information about the monarch, the Firm, and the Royal Family’s role in the UK and the Commonwealth.  They added the supposed takedown was an “attack on pedophiles”.

Though these attacks don’t cause major damage, they can lead to outages lasting several hours or even days. However, it has not been confirmed they were behind it.

The Royal family’s website was up and running again by midday.

As per Express.co.uk, KillMilk is the leader of the Russian hacktivist DDoS collective Killnet. KillNet is known for its Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) campaigns and has launched similar attacks against countries supporting Ukraine, especially NATO countries, since the start of the war in February last year.  A DDOS attack involves knocking a website offline by flooding it with traffic.

Killnet has in the past claimed attacks on US government websites and said it has taken action against other countries opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In November last year, the European Parliament website was also hit by a cyber attack claimed by Killnet shortly after lawmakers approved a resolution calling Moscow a “state sponsor of terrorism”.

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CloudNordic Faces Severe Data Loss After Ransomware Attack

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CloudNordic, a prominent Danish cloud provider, has suffered a severe ransomware attack that struck on August 18. This attack resulted in a complete shutdown of the company’s servers and infrastructure, leading to operational chaos.

  • Ransomware Hit CloudNordic: Danish cloud provider CloudNordic fell victim to a ransomware attack on August 18, causing a complete shutdown of its systems and affecting customer data.
  • Data Loss Warning: CloudNordic informed clients of likely data loss after the attack. Customer websites and email systems were compromised, intensifying the impact.
  • No Ransom Payment: CloudNordic refuses to pay ransom to hackers, even as data loss affects many customers.
  • System Transition Flaw: Vulnerabilities in system transfer let ransomware infiltrate CloudNordic’s servers, allowing attackers access to admin and backup systems.
  • Recovery Challenges: CloudNordic struggles to restore services and data. Customers are advised to seek alternatives to minimize downtime. Hope remains that data wasn’t stolen.

CloudNordic, a well-known Danish cloud provider, is grappling with a major setback after falling victim to a crippling ransomware attack. The company has informed its clientele that they should brace for a complete data loss, as their systems remain paralyzed in the aftermath of the attack.

The cyber assault struck CloudNordic in the early hours of August 18, causing a catastrophic shutdown of the company’s servers and wiping out not only their internal infrastructure but also compromising their customers’ websites and email systems. The incident has left CloudNordic in a state of chaos, struggling to recover from the damage inflicted by the ransomware attack.

In a translated statement, CloudNordic conveyed, “We cannot and do not want to meet the financial demands of the criminal hackers for ransom.” The company expressed its commitment to not capitulating to the attackers’ monetary demands. However, it’s a grim reality that the majority of customers have already lost their data due to the attack.

CloudNordic Faces Severe Data Loss After Ransomware Attack

The cyberattack has exposed the vulnerabilities in CloudNordic’s system transition. Suspecting that the ransomware infiltrated during the…

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Turkey faces runoff election with Erdogan leading

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  • Neither Erdogan or his challenger pass 50% threshold
  • Rivals spar over election count
  • Erdogan ahead after 20-year rule

ISTANBUL, May 14 (Reuters) – Turkey headed for a runoff presidential vote after President Tayyip Erdogan outperformed projections in Sunday’s election as he sought to extend his two-decade rule, holding a sizable lead over his rival but falling short of an outright majority.

Neither Erdogan nor rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu cleared the 50% threshold needed to avoid a second round, to be held on May 28, in an election seen as a verdict on Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian path.

The presidential vote will decide not only who leads Turkey, a NATO-member country of 85 million, but also whether it reverts to a more secular, democratic path; how it will handle its severe cost of living crisis and manage key relations with Russia, the Middle East and the West.

Kilicdaroglu, who said he would prevail in the runoff, urged his supporters to be patient and accused Erdogan’s party of interfering with the counting and reporting of results.

But Erdogan performed better than pre-election polls had predicted, and he appeared in a confident and combative mood as he addressed his flag-waving, cheering supporters.

“We are already ahead of our closest rival by 2.6 million votes. We expect this figure to increase with official results,” Erdogan said.

With almost 97% of ballot boxes counted, Erdogan led with 49.39% of votes and Kilicdaroglu had 44.92%, according to state-owned news agency Anadolu. Turkey’s High Election Board gave Erdogan 49.49% with 91.93% of ballot boxes counted.

ERDOGAN HAS EDGE

The results reflected deep polarization in a country at a political crossroads. The vote was set to hand Erdogan’s ruling alliance a majority in parliament, giving him a potential edge heading into the runoff.

Opinion polls before the election had pointed to a very tight race but gave Kilicdaroglu, who heads a six-party alliance, a slight lead. Two polls on Friday even showed him above the 50% threshold.

“Erdogan will have an advantage in a second vote after his alliance did far better than the opposition’s alliance,” said Hakan Akbas, managing director of political advisory Strategic Advisory Services.

A…

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