Windows TCO: RansomHub, DDoS, and More
-
Scoop News Group ☛ RansomHub says it published Florida health department data
According to a July 1 post on X by HackManac, a company that tracks cyberattacks, RansomHub threatened to release the stolen health department data in a post on the dark web unless the state paid an undisclosed amount of money by Friday.
Florida, in compliance with guidelines from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has a policy of not paying ransomware demands, as payment does not guarantee an organization will regain access to its data or be able to resume normal operations.
-
Security Week ☛ OVHcloud Sees Record 840 Mpps DDoS Attack
Cloud provider OVHcloud this week revealed that it had mitigated the largest ever distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack in terms of packet rate, amid an overall increase in DDoS attack intensity.
-
India Times ☛ OpenAI's internal AI details stolen in 2023 breach
In April, a [cracker] accessed OpenAI's messaging, stealing AI design details. ChatGPT stayed secure. Microsoft-backed OpenAI informed employees, not federal law enforcement. No customer data compromised. Reported by Dey, Timsina, Aich. OpenAI disrupted covert influence operations. Biden administration plans to safeguard AI. In May, 16 companies pledged to develop AI safely, addressing emerging risks.
-
Futurism ☛ Sneaky Virus Uses ChatGPT to Send Human-Like Emails to Your Contacts to Spread Itself
Once established on the victim's system, the virus then opens up Outlook and starts writing contextually relevant email replies — while including itself as a seemingly harmless attachment.
It's a terrifying example of how AI chatbots can be exploited to efficiently spread malware. Worse yet, experts warn the tools themselves could even aid bad actors in making them even harder to detect.
-
[Old] SSRN ☛ Hacked to Pieces? The Effects of Ransomware Attacks on Hospitals and Patients by Claire C. McGlave, Hannah Neprash, Sayeh Nikpay :: SSRN [paywall]
As cybercriminals increasingly target healthcare, hospitals face the growing threat of ransomware attacks. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that prevents users from accessing electronic systems and demands a ransom to restore access. In this paper, we create and link a database of hospital ransomware attacks to Medicare administrative claims data. We quantify the effects of ransomware attacks on hospital operations and patient outcomes. Ransomware attacks decrease hospital volume by 17-25% during the initial attack week, reducing revenue even further. We find that ransomware attacks increase in-hospital mortality for patients who are already admitted at the time of attack.
-
The Record ☛ ‘I don’t see it happening’: CISA chief dismisses ban on ransomware payments
Asked how bad the problem was, Easterly said: “We have done enormous work with our partners to try and reduce ransomware attacks. It is not clear that we’ve been terribly effective at it, but I will say it’s very hard to know, frankly, because there is no baseline.
-
Times Media Limited ☛ Cyber ransoms are too profitable. Let’s make paying illegal
“Ransomware” is a massive criminal industry worth over $20 billion a year globally. Criminals charge victims for access to their data and a promise not to publish. They have shut down hospitals, energy supplies and grocery chains. Faced with a crisis, scared companies pay. And it’s perfectly legal. British companies are also the
-
The Record ☛ LockBit claims cyberattack on Croatia’s largest hospital
The University Hospital Centre in Zagreb, known as KBC Zagreb, suffered the attack last week. More than 100 specialists worked to restore the systems in the aftermath.
According to local media reports, the incident slowed down the work of emergency services, forcing the hospital to send patients to other institutions in Zagreb. The attack “took us back 50 years — to paper and pencil,” said Milivoj Novak, assistant director for health care quality and supervision of KBC Zagreb.