Cybersecurity News & Trends

This week, the U.S. government brought up cybersecurity legislation, while the U.S. judicial system handed down cybercriminal incarceration.

SonicWall Spotlight

Hackers used ransomware to take over parts of UC San Francisco’s network and extorted $1.14million in exchange for returning access to their files — Daily Mail

• UC San Francisco hasn’t said what files were affected nor how the ransomware entered the system, but the FBI has opened an investigation into the incident.

Sonicwall Lands In Ireland, Expands Channel Partner Strategy — SonicWall Press Release

• SonicWall today announced that it has appointed Tristan Bateup as country manager for Ireland.

UCSF pays $1 million ransom to recover medical school data from hackers — The Mercury News

• The UCSF School of Medicine was the third targeted by cyberattacks in the past two months, but a spokesperson said the attack did not affect patient care or ongoing COVID-19 research.

Cybersecurity News

Russian Criminal Group Finds New Target: Americans Working at Home — The New York Times

• A hacking group calling itself Evil Corp., indicted in December, has shown up in corporate networks with sophisticated ransomware. American officials worry election infrastructure could be next.

How COVID-19 changed Cyber Command’s ‘Cyber Flag’ exercise — Cyberscoop

• This year, U.S. Cyber Command convened with allied countries for what appeared to be a straightforward simulation of an attack against a European airbase — but then a global pandemic changed all the rules.

Russian cybercriminal gets 9 years for online fraud website — The Washington Times

• A Russian computer hacker who facilitated $20 million in credit card fraud and ran a sophisticated clearinghouse for international cybercriminals was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison.

Lawmakers introduce legislation to establish national cybersecurity director — The Hill

• A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation in the House that would establish a national cybersecurity director to lead government efforts on cybersecurity.

DDoS botnet coder gets 13 months in prison — ZDNet

• Kenneth Schuchman, known as Nexus Zeta, created multiple DDoS botnets, including Satori, Okiru, Masuta, and Fbot/Tsunami.

An embattled group of leakers picks up the WikiLeaks mantle — Ars Technica

• DDoSecrets was banned from Twitter after releasing what they claim is the largest-ever cache of hacked U.S. police data, a leak some say positions the group as the heir apparent of WikiLeaks’ early, idealistic mission.

Senators move to boost state and local cybersecurity as part of annual defense bill — The Hill

• A group of Senate Democrats on Monday introduced as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) a measure that would strengthen cybersecurity protections for states vulnerable to malicious cyberattacks.

U.S. FCC issues final orders declaring Huawei, ZTE national security threats — Reuters

• The FCC has formally designated China’s Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp as posing threats to national security, barring U.S. firms from tapping an $8.3 billion government fund to purchase equipment from the companies.

Schools Already Struggled With Cybersecurity. Then Came Covid-19 — Wired

• A lack of dedicated funding and resources made it hard to keep data secure — and that was before classes moved almost entirely online.

Things that happen every four years: Olympic Games, presidential elections, and now new Mac ransomware — The Register

• Known as EvilQuest, the brand-new strain of Mac ransomware was spotted spreading via Russian piracy and torrent sites.

DDoS Attacks Jump 542% from Q4 2019 to Q1 2020 — Dark Reading

• The shift to remote work and heavy reliance on online services has driven an increase in attacks intended to overwhelm ISPs.

Tax software used by Chinese bank clients installs GoldenSpy backdoor — SC Magazine

• A tax software program installed by business clients of an unidentified Chinese bank was trojanized with malware that installs a backdoor granting attackers system-level privileges, researchers warn.

In Case You Missed It

• ‘3 & Free’ Promotion: The Easiest Way to Upgrade Your SonicWall Firewall for Free — Robert (Bob) VanKirk
• SonicWall EMEA 2020 Virtual Partner Events — Terry Greer-King
• COVID-19 Ushers in a New Era of Cybersecurity for Higher Ed — Bill Conner
• A Brief History of COVID-19 Related Attacks, Pt. 1 — Dmitriy Ayrapetov
• SonicWall’s Online Community Connects Cybersecurity Professionals — Micah Vorst

Amber Wolff

Senior Digital Copywriter | SonicWall

Amber Wolff is the Senior Digital Copywriter for SonicWall. Prior to joining the SonicWall team, Amber was a cybersecurity blogger and content creator, covering a wide variety of products and topics surrounding enterprise security. She spent the earlier part of her career in advertising, where she wrote and edited for a number of national clients.