Hot on the heels of last month’s Wannacry attack that caught global media attention arrives the latest outbreak of ransomware that is spreading rapidly across Europe and other continents. The culprit? A new variant of the Petya ransomware family, also known as Petna in IT security circles. For the remainder of the article we will [...]
The WannaCry ransomware outbreak has raised many questions about how ransomware works and what can be done about it. How does it get into a system? What does it do when it’s in there? Our Spotlight on Ransomware series explores the different stages of a ransomware attack. This week’s focus: ransomware encryption. A ransomware infection [...]
The idea that the government collects data on everything you do online is no longer stuff of dystopian fiction. When we consider the Vault 7 revelations, Edward Snowden’s ongoing leak of NSA documents and privacy changes that allow Internet Service Providers to sell the data of their users, we can no longer plead ignorance when [...]
The world of ransomware continues to evolve, finding clever new ways to extort victims for higher sums of money. Case in point? Doxware. This spin on ransomware not only holds your personal information for ransom but also threatens to publish identifiable details online. Imagine if someone made your name, address and private chat conversations public [...]
It seems everything is connected these days. Toasters, baby monitors, even coffee machines have access to the internet. Almost toylike for adults, these devices are created to make your life easier, fun even. But convenience for you can also mean easy access for cybercriminals. Imagine a child surrounded by toys he has stolen from as [...]
Following the emergence of the WannaCry ransomware attack campaign last week, another, possibly bigger outbreak raging predominantly across the Ukraine is underway. The culprit? A new ransomware called XData. It was spotted over the weekend by security researcher MalwareHunter. MalwareHunter is one of the people behind the ID-Ransomware service that enables users to submit ransomware samples for [...]
There is so much news surrounding the WannaCry Ransomware outbreak that it is impossible to know where to start reading. As mainstream media outlets are jumping on any new information that may or may not be connected, some articles even raise more questions than they answer. The fact is: WannaCry ransomware has hit hundreds of [...]
Following the emergence of the Jaff ransomware attack campaign earlier this week, another, even bigger outbreak is making headlines. The culprit? A new ransomware family called WannaCry or WCry. Spotted earlier today, WCry caught the attention of the team due to it being spread via the recently exposed NSA shadow broker exploits. WCry took many [...]
Ransomware continues to be a growing security threat, with new families cropping up every week. Emsisoft researchers are often involved in the discovery and analysis of new threats, and this ransomware is no different. Originally spotted earlier today, Jaff ransomware caught our attention due to it being spread via the Necurs botnet, which before spread ransomware [...]
Understanding how ransomware works is no easy task. Outside of cyber security circles, grasping the complexities required to protect and prevent ransomware from harming its victims can seem almost impossible. This only makes the threat all the scarier and effective for the criminals that stand to profit. In Emsisoft’s ‘Spotlight on Ransomware’ series, we aim [...]
