The Ransomware Files, Episode 12: Unproven Data Recovery

Jeremy Kirk • October 7, 2022

What if you were hired for an office job but ended up negotiating with cybercriminals? There aren’t many rules around ransomware, but this is a story about one rule that was definitely broken. By the end, the path to the truth led to a place on the other side of the world where no one wanted to be.

Cloud Security

Capital One Hacker Paige Thompson Sentenced to Time Served

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Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

Binance Restores Cross-Chain Bridge After $569M Attack

Rashmi Ramesh • October 7, 2022

Crypto exchange Binance restored operations on its BSC Token Hub smart contract early Friday, hours after a $568.6 million hack. It upgraded the vulnerable contract in a new version and shared plans for potential measures to address this incident and increase security measures.

Cybercrime

ISMG Editors: The Plot to Leak US Health Records to Russia

Anna Delaney • October 7, 2022

In the latest weekly update, ISMG editors examine the story of a Maryland couple facing charges for giving military medical records to Russia, the sentencing of a former Seattle tech worker for her massive Capital One hack, and why David Hatfield resigned as co-CEO of cloud security vendor Lacework.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

President Biden to Sign Order for Trans-Atlantic Data Flows

David Perera • October 7, 2022

U.S. President Joe Biden will mount the third attempt to normalize commercial trans-Atlantic data flows by signing an executive order implementing privacy safeguards on American intelligence gathering. The order follows nearly two years of negotiations between Brussels and Washington.

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

Hacker Exploits Bug to Steal Millions From Binance Bridge

Rashmi Ramesh • October 7, 2022

Crypto exchange Binance paused its smart contract platform Binance Smart Chain after a hacker exploited an internal verification vulnerability to steal cryptocurrency from its cross-chain bridge. Binance has acknowledged a theft of at least $100 million; PeckShield says hackers stole $586 million.

Identity & Access Management

How Adversaries Are Bypassing Weak MFA

Anna Delaney • October 7, 2022

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report discusses how adversaries have a new favorite tactic to circumvent MFA, why vendor Akamai is an appealing target for private equity, and what the industry can do differently to attract more females to leadership roles.

Critical Infrastructure Security

Should Public Utilities Get Paid to Secure the Power Grid?

Cal Harrison • October 6, 2022

Made up of 3,000 public utilities, the U.S. power grid has many weak links in its cyber defenses. Regulators can fine utilities for service outages, but a proposed federal program and recent Purdue University study say financial incentives will help firms make the right security investments.

Breach Notification

Health Entity Agrees to Pay $7.9 Million to Improve Security

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee • October 6, 2022

A Baltimore, Maryland-based healthcare organization has agreed to spend nearly $8 million improving and maintaining its data security as "injunctive relief" to settle a class action lawsuit involving two data breaches that affected a total of about 540,000 individuals.

Endpoint Security

BD, CISA Warn of Security Flaw in Cancer Testing System

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee • October 6, 2022

If exploited, a hard-coded credential vulnerability in certain BD medical laboratory equipment used for cancer screenings could allow an attacker to access, modify or delete sensitive patient information, the manufacturer and federal authorities warn.

Cybercrime

Australia Police Charge Teen With Extorting Optus Victims

Mihir Bagwe • October 6, 2022

Police arrested a teenager in his suburban Sydney home for allegedly attempting to extort AU$2,000 from victims of the Optus data breach. The unnamed 19-year-old allegedly threatened to conduct financial crimes using the information of 93 individuals unless he received a payout.

Fraud Management & Cybercrime

NetWalker Ransomware Affiliate Faces 20 Years in US Prison

David Perera • October 5, 2022

Canadian Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins received a 20 year prison sentence from a U.S. judge based in Florida after copping to four felonies stemming from a stint as an affiliate of the NetWalker ransomware-as-a-service gang. "This is Jesse James meets the 21st century," said Judge William F. Jung.

Endpoint Security

Ring Login Issues Wednesday Stem From System Error, Not Hack

Michael Novinson • October 5, 2022

A claim Wednesday by high-profile security researcher Kevin Beaumont that video doorbell manufacturer Ring was experiencing a security issue sent Twitter atwitter. Amazon says some users experienced logon issues due to a back-end system error made during a routine system update.

Cybercrime

Patients Affected By Cybersecurity Event at Hospital Chain

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee • October 5, 2022

A cybersecurity incident at Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, a system of 1,500 healthcare sites across 21 states and one of the nation’s largest nonprofit healthcare systems, is disrupting medical care after the healthcare system took offline some of its electronic health records systems.