Cyber Crime

Pierluigi Paganini February 20, 2016
Malicious spam campaign capitalizes the global interest in the Zika virus

The cybercrime ecosystem is getting ready to exploit the media attention on the Zika virus infections for illegal activities. Be careful! What is the relationship between the Zika virus and a malware? It’s just a matter of opportunity, the cyber crime ecosystem is getting ready to exploit the media attention on current issues for illegal […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 20, 2016
Locky Ransomware uses AES to encrypt Local Files and Unmapped Network Shares

Security researchers discovered a strain of ransomware called Locky that uses AES encryption to encrypt local files and files on network shares. Security researchers have discovered a new piece of ransomware called Locky, which uses AES encryption algorithm to encrypt both local files and files on network shares, even if they are unmapped. Security experts […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 19, 2016
Thousands of WordPress websites used as a platform to launch DDOS

In a recent investigation case, security researchers at Sucuri revealed that 26,000 different WordPress sites were exploited to launch Layer 7 distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. In a recent investigation case, security researchers at Sucuri revealed that 26,000 different WordPress sites were generating a sustained rate of 10,000 to 11,000 HTTPS requests per second […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 18, 2016
A sophisticated variant of OceanLotus trojan targets OS X systems

In May 2015, the Chinese security firm Qihoo 360 published a report on a Trojan called OceanLotus that was being used since 2012 for APT attacks in the Chinese market. The APT attacks based  on the OceanLotus focused on government organizations, research institutes, maritime agencies, and companies specializing in other activities. At the time were […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 18, 2016
Researcher hacks medical devices and the whole hospital with ease

Sergey Lozhkin, a security expert at Kaspersky Lab demonstratd how it is easy for hackers to compromise medical devices and critical healthcare infrastructure. The ascent in the Internet of Things (IoT) has left gadgets more associated, yet much of the time more vulnerable, than at any other time. From auto hacking to digital assaults against […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 17, 2016
$103,000 stolen in Brain Wallets cracking attacks

A group of researchers discovered that roughly 1,000 brain wallets have been drained by cyber criminals that have stolen $103,000 The term brainwallet refers to the concept of storing Bitcoins in one’s own mind by memorization of a passphrase. The phrase is converted into a 256-bit private key with a hashing or key derivation algorithm (example: SHA256). That […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 16, 2016
Ransomware demanded $3.6M after takes offline the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center

Cyber criminals demanded $3.6M after a ransomware-based attack takes offline the systems at the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. In the “2016 Cyber Security Predictions: From Extortion to Nation-state Attacks” I published at the end of 2015 I have predicted the criminal practices of the extortion will reach levels never seen before. “Cyber criminals will use […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 15, 2016
Mazar Bot actively targeting Android devices and wiping them

A new malware dubbed Mazar Bot is threatening Android users and has the ability to gain root access to the mobile device and completely wipe it. A new threat is threatening Android users, its name is Mazar BOT and has the ability to gain root access to the mobile device and completely wipe its storage. Mazar BOT could be used by threat […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 14, 2016
Man charged of Laundering $19.6 Million earned with PBX system hacking

Pakistani citizen Muhammad Sohail Qasmani admits laundering Millions from massive computer hacking and telecommunications fraud scheme. A Pakistani citizen, Muhammad Sohail Qasmani (47) admitted laundering millions of dollars as part of a massive international computer hacking and telecommunications fraud scheme. The man worked for a hacking crew that targeted US companies by hacking into their PBX […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 14, 2016
Stolen card data of 100,000 Britons for sale on the clear web

A website on the clear web is offering for sale stolen card data from more than a million people worldwide including more than 100,000 Britons. According to a report published by The Times, the website Bestvalid.cc is offering for sale stolen credit and debit card details of 100,000 Britons. Banking details stolen from more than a […]