Tag: BlackCat
Thrillogy
March 6, 2024Ken Showers, Managing Editor
The return of dreaded continuity. I swear that three is our lucky number and this will be the last time I discuss ransomware in this space, at least for a little while.
BlackCat/ALPHV is apparently falling apart this week if you’ve been following that story closely. The official word is that they stole the $22 million payment from UnitedHealthcare and collectively ghosted the world. Which, you know, that money is kind of already stolen? I mean, that’s what blackmail basically is, guys....
United they fall
February 28, 2024Ken Showers, Managing Editor
Oh man, I really don’t like doing the same topic two weeks in a row, but we have to talk about ransomware again.
It should be about the ADT webcast, but we’ll save that one for next week, as a treat. Instead, today we’re going to take our medicine and I get to say I told you so while discussing the ransomware attack on UnitedHealthcare by BlackCat. You’ll remember BlackCat (ALPHV) because we’ve covered it before, but also because in this very blog spot last week I...
Bit defenders
February 21, 2024Ken Showers, Managing Editor
This week international members of law enforcement patted themselves on the back for slaying the proverbial dragon of LockBit, but in reality, it’s just one head of the Hydra.
I don’t mean to lessen or downplay that accomplishment either. This has been a serious blow to global cybercriminal activity and a victory against destabilizing actions taken by politically aligned criminal organizations (because let’s not pretend the ransomware gangs are largely state sponsored)....
Trust fall
November 29, 2023Ken Showers, Managing Editor
Do you trust tech companies to protect and secure your personal privacy? According to one survey, it appears that a majority of smart home technology users do.
Now I am writing this way too late into the evening, the post-holiday doldrums make for slow or quiet news weeks. So, while I’m brainstorming a topic for this week’s blog and sending some post witching hour emails, I began reading some survey data from an article. It’s not new data, the article is a few months old now,...
It’s time to clip Cl0p
August 23, 2023Ken Showers, Managing Editor
Onomatopoeia? More like I-don’t-want-to-pay-ya. That’s right, this week I want to talk about the out-of-control rise of ransomware.
There were some other hot topics this week, like NAPCO’s sudden misfortune, but I’d like to hear from their earnings call next week for full context. Besides, all weekend I have heard about nothing but more and more ransomware incidents hitting some notable names.
I shouldn’t be surprised to hear about it either. According to the NCC...
City of Dallas struck by Royal ransomware
May 5, 2023SSN Staff
DALLAS – On May 3, the City of Dallas found itself dealing with a Royal ransomware attack that knocked its police department website offline and infected multiple servers.
Though the attack was being managed according to the city’s incident response plan, with the city working to isolate the ransomware and prevent its spread, its impact was ultimately limited to a small amount of local government services and its police department website. As of its most recently published update,...
Ring seemingly hit by ransomware group
March 14, 2023Ken Showers, Managing Editor
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Ransomware gang ALPHV has claimed to have breached Ring LLC and is threatening the release of its data.
News began making the rounds on March 13 that the video doorbell and security camera company had been breached by the group who left the message, “There’s always the option to let us leak your data.” In response Ring has denied the breach to various news outlets, stating instead the victim was a third-party vendor, however reporting by Joseph...