Olympus US hack tied to sanctioned Russian ransomware group

An “ongoing” cyberattack against the Japanese technology giant Olympus was caused by a Russian ransomware group sanctioned by the U.S. government, according to two people with knowledge of the incident. A new malware variant known as Macaw was used in the attack that began on October 10, which encrypted Olympus’ systems in the U.S., Canada […]

A massive ‘stalkerware’ leak puts the phone data of thousands at risk

The private phone data of hundreds of thousands of people are at risk. Call records, text messages, photos, browsing history, precise geolocations and call recordings can all be pulled from a person’s phone because of a security issue in widely used consumer-grade spyware. But that’s about as much as we can tell you. TechCrunch repeatedly […]

CISA, NSA, FBI say BlackMatter ransomware group is targeting the US food industry

A joint advisory issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Security Agency (NSA) has warned that the BlackMatter ransomware group has targeted “multiple” organizations deemed critical infrastructure, including two organizations in the U.S. food and agriculture sector. The agencies did not name did not name […]

Google pulls ‘stalkerware’ ads that promoted phone spying apps

Google has pulled several “stalkerware” ads that violated its policies by promoting apps that encouraged prospective users to spy on their spouses’ phone. These consumer-grade spyware apps are often marketed to parents wishing to monitor their child’s calls, messages, apps, photos and location, often under the guise of protecting against predators. But these apps, which […]

Google to give security keys to ‘high risk’ users targeted by government hackers

Google has said it will provide 10,000 “high-risk” users with free hardware security keys, days after the company warned thousands of Gmail users that they were targeted by state-sponsored hackers. The warning, sent by Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), alerted more than 14,000 Gmail users that they had been targeted in a state-sponsored phishing campaign […]

DOJ will sue federal contractors that hide cyberattacks and breaches

The U.S. Department of Justice has said it will launch civil legal action against federal contractors if they fail to report cyberattacks or data breaches. The Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, introduced by Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco this week, will leverage the existing False Claims Act (FCA) to “pursue cybersecurity-related fraud by government contractors and […]

EU warns Russia over ‘Ghostwriter’ hacking ahead of German elections

The European Union has warned it may take action over Russia’s involvement in “malicious cyber activities” against several EU member states. The “Ghostwriter” campaign targeted “numerous members of Parliaments, government officials, politicians, and members of the press and civil society in the EU”, according to a press release from the European Council on Friday, and was […]