Cybersecurity News & Trends

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This week, SonicWall released its biggest trove of threat intelligence yet: The 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report.


SonicWall in the News

Microsoft Office Files Now Used By Hackers to Spread Malware: IoT Under Attack — Tech Times

  • Tech Times covered SonicWall’s 2021 Cyber Threat Report, highlighting the surge in malicious Office file attacks.

Election security report calls out Russian, Iranian influence ops. Remediation progress. Ukraine finds Russian cyberespionage — CyberWire

  • SonicWall’s 2021 Cyber Threat Report was included under the “Cyber Trends” section of the newsletter.

Threat Actors Thriving on the Fear and Uncertainty of Remote Workforces — Help Net Security

  • Help Net Security shared an article on SonicWall’s 2021 Threat Report, highlighting that cyber criminals preyed on the new remote work reality.

Ransomware Up 62 Percent Since 2019 — BetaNews

  • BetaNews shared an article on SonicWall’s 2021 Threat Report, highlighting the growth in ransomware.

New SonicWall 2020 Research Shows Cyber Arms Race At Tipping Point — CRN

  • This article features the findings from SonicWall’s 2021 Cyber Threat Report.

SonicWall: Pandemic exposes record-breaking cyber attacks — Mobile News

  • This article features the findings from SonicWall’s 2021 Cyber Threat Report.

Ransomware and IoT Malware Detections Surge By Over 60% — InfoSecurity Magazine

  • InfoSecurity Magazine covered SonicWall’s 2021 Cyber Threat Report, highlighting the double-digit surge in ransomware and IoT malware.

Cybercrime Saw an ‘Explosion’ in 2020 — ITProPortal

  • ITProPortal covered SonicWall’s 2021 Cyber Threat Report, highlighting that ransomware, cryptojacking and malicious Office files were the most popular vectors for cybercrime in 2020.

ChannelPro Weekly Podcast: Episode #178 — ChannelPro Weekly Podcast

  • This podcast features an interview with Dmitriy discussing the impact the pandemic had on cybersecurity and the cybersecurity trends of 2021.

Industry News

More than $4 billion in cybercrime losses reported to FBI in 2020 — FBI Internet Crime Report 2021

  • American victims reported $4.2 billion in losses as a result of cybercrime and internet fraud to the FBI in 2020, a roughly 20% uptick from 2019.

Attackers are trying awfully hard to backdoor iOS developers’ Macs — Ars Technica

  • Researchers said they’ve found a trojanized code library in the wild that attempts to install advanced surveillance malware on the Macs of iOS software developers.

Ransom Payments Have Nearly Tripled — Dark Reading

  • In 2020, ransomware targeted the manufacturing sector, healthcare organizations and construction companies, with the average ransom reaching $312,000, a report finds.

U.S. taxpayers targeted with RAT malware in ongoing phishing attacks — Bleeping Computer

  • U.S. taxpayers are being targeted by phishing attacks attempting to take over their computers using malware and steal sensitive personal and financial information.

$4,000 COVID-19 ‘Relief Checks’ Cloak Dridex Malware — Threat Post

  • The American Rescue Act is the latest zeitgeisty lure being circulated in an email campaign.

Mimecast Says SolarWinds Hackers Stole Source Code — SecurityWeek

  • Email security company Mimecast on Tuesday said it completed its forensic investigation into the impact of the SolarWinds supply chain attack and revealed that the threat actor managed to steal some source code.

Buffalo Public Schools cancels classes after cyberattack — Cyberscoop

  • Ransomware attackers appear to have taken a swipe at Buffalo Public Schools in recent days, screeching the school system’s plans for remote classes and in-person learning to a halt on Friday.

FBI warns of escalating Pysa ransomware attacks on education orgs — Bleeping Computer

  • The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cyber Division has warned system administrators and cybersecurity professionals of increased Pysa ransomware activity targeting educational institutions.

Bitcoin surges past $60,000 for first time — BBC

  • Bitcoin, which has more than tripled in value since the end of last year, has been powered on by well-known companies adopting it as a method of payment.

Exclusive: Microsoft could reap more than $150 million in new U.S. cyber spending, upsetting some lawmakers — Reuters

  • Microsoft stands to receive nearly a quarter of COVID-19 relief funds destined for U.S. cybersecurity defenders, angering some lawmakers who don’t want to increase funding for a company whose software was recently at the heart of two big hacks.

Molson Coors says cyberattack disrupted beer brewing — Cyberscoop

  • Molson Coors, one of the biggest beer companies in the U.S., didn’t provide many specifics about the cyberattack.

With Spectre Still Lurking, Google Looks to Protect the Web — Wired

  • Researchers from Google have developed a proof-of-concept that reveals the hazard Spectre assaults pose to the browser.

Ransomware now attacks Microsoft Exchange servers with ProxyLogon exploits — Bleeping Computer

  • A new ransomware called ‘DEARCRY’ is targeting Microsoft Exchange servers, with one victim stating they were infected via the ProxyLogon vulnerabilities.

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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.