New Jersey Hospital Pays Massive Ransom
Officials have decided to pay roughly $670,000 in ransom
following a ransomware attack on the University
Hospital in New Jersey. The hospital was likely forced into this decision after
being unable to restore from backups the 240GB of data stolen in the attack on
their systems. It’s not entirely clear what information was stolen, but given the
haste of payment it was likely highly sensitive patient data.
COVID-Related Cyberattacks Target Canadian Companies
A recent survey revealed that over 25% of all Canadian
business organizations had been targeted by a COVID-19-themed
cyberattack since the beginning of the year. Most of the organizations surveyed
also reported seeing a significant rise in overall cyberattacks since the pandemic
began. Worrisome findings also revealed that 38% of organizations surveyed were
unsure if they had fallen victim to any type of cyberattack, which could mean
the amount of customer information for sale on black markets could be
significantly higher.
Boom! Mobile Website Compromised
Customer data has been compromised for users of the Boom!
Mobile website, which was infiltrated by malicious JavaScript. It’s still
unclear how the unauthorized code got onto the site or how long was active.
Officials for the mobile company have confirmed they do not store payment card
data and that no Boom! Mobile accounts were compromised.
Major Ransomware Attacks Increase Through Q3
Researchers have reported a massive increase in ransomware
attacks in Q3 of 2020, with the Maze group being responsible for 12% of all
attacks. They also reported that Ryuk ransomware variants were responsible for
an average of 20 attacks per week. With the ongoing neglect of cybersecurity in
major corporations, ransomware attacks will likely continue as long as their
authors find them profitable.
Chicago Food Delivery Service Stricken with Data Breach
Nearly 800,000 customer records were compromised following a
data breach at ChowBus,
a Chicago-based food delivery service. With roughly 440,000 unique email
addresses exposed, many individuals are now more susceptible to additional phishing
attacks or identity theft. Fortunately, however, ChowBus does not store payment
card information on its site.