Cyber Security News & Trends

This week, Baltimore ransomware woes continue, the story of how the WannaCry cyberattack was stopped, and Magecart groups change tactics.

SonicWall’s Debasish Mukherjee is on the move with the SonicWall Roadshow across Mumbai and Delhi in India. He talks SonicWall expansion in India and Next-Gen AV – Capture Client with CRN.

S. Customs and Border Protection was not informed that a hacker had stolen a huge cache of sensitive border-surveillance documents from a subcontractor until nearly three weeks after the cyberattack was first discovered. A huge trove of data, including travelers’ images and license plates, was taken in the attack and has since appeared on the dark web.

In 2017, as the WannaCry ransomware attack was spreading across the internet, two security researchers were all that stood in its way after they found a kill-switch hidden in the code. Two years later, TechCrunch speaks to the researchers and breaks down the moment by moment saga as it happened.

Nearly two months after Baltimore was first caught by the Ransomware attack that crippled the cities operations, employees are still incapable of accessing emails older than 90 days.

Since the newest model cars contain a series of connected computers, cyber vulnerabilities are an increasing concern in the automotive industry. To combat this, many car companies have launched bug bounty programs and attend all day hacking events like Pwn2Own with top prizes for hackers who can breach their cybersecurity or find unknown bugs.

The U.S. Coast Guard issued a cybersecurity warning for commercial vessels following successful cyberattacks and an increase in phishing attempts in 2019. It says that “It is imperative that the maritime community adapt to changing technologies and the changing threat landscape by recognizing the need for and implementing basic cyber hygiene measures.”

Both Marriott and British Airways will be subject to fines of over a hundred million dollars in the UK under GDPR regulation, both stemming from data breaches in 2018. Marriott International says it will fight the fine.

Security researchers at CyberMDX have found a vulnerability in a brand of widely used anesthetic machines. The Aespire and Aestiva 7100 and 7900 can be hacked and controlled from afar if left accessible on a hospital computer network. The makers of the machine have responded saying that there is “no direct patient risk.”

The head of the office charged with fighting cyber threats in France says that large companies are increasingly the target of cyberattacks and ransomware demands but often don’t want to report the attacks for fear of hurting their public image.

And finally:

Magecart, the troublemaking credit card skimming gangs behind a number of high-profile breaches like British Airways, has successfully infected over 17,000 domains since April. The shotgun approach being taken leading to such a huge number of infections is a change in tactics to previous methods of highly targeted attacks. This is likely down to both the ease at which the skimming software can be implemented, and poor website security hygiene on the domains’ side.