Malware

Identity Thieves Misfile, Hit With Whopping Tax Bill

In-brief: Hackers believed to be responsible for a wave of tax identity theft scams got a rude awakening last month: a whopping bill from the IRS. A common mistake in their fraudulent filings appears to be the cause. 

Updated: More Hospitals Felled by Ransomware

In-brief: Hospitals in Kentucky and California were the victims of ransomware early this week – more evidence of a sustained campaign of extortion malware attacks. (Editor’s note: This story was updated to include comment from affected hospitals. – PFR March 24, 2016)

Dull Instruments: Why Hospitals Keep Getting Hacked

In-brief: Why are hospitals in the cross hairs for cyber criminals? The Security Ledger speaks with Kevin Fu of The University of Michigan. Fu said that hospitals face a number of challenges, as more (insecure) devices become connected to the Internet. Individual facilities – especially small hospitals – often lack the expertise and tools needed to manage their risk. 

FBI: Beware of Full Network Ransomware

In-brief: the FBI has issued an alert warning of ransomware attacks that attempt to encrypt an organization’s entire network. But has anything changed? 

Podcast: With Ransomware -Never Pay The Ransom!

In-brief: To pay the ransom, or not to pay the ransom, that is the question. In this Security Ledger podcast, we talk to Thomas Fischer, a Global Privacy Advocate at Digital Guardian about why ransomware is such a big problem for businesses these days, and why he thinks paying to get access to your encrypted data is a terrible idea.