Author: Admin

Ransomware gangs have increasingly focused on high-profile targets like large corporations and government institutions in the past year, according to Europol’s Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2021. The report, which offers insights into current cybercrime trends in Europe, revealed that ransomware actors have taken advantage of widespread homeworking to launch more sophisticated and targeted attacks. The law enforcement agency also highlighted the growing use of multi-layered extortion methods to extort service providers, financial institutions and…

Europe’s top 10 pharma companies all have vulnerable web applications, potentially putting sensitive medical and patient data at risk of being hacked, according to a new study by Outpost24. The company used its external attack surface management tool to assess the security of Europe’s top pharma firms’ internet-facing web services. Worryingly, they gave 80% of these organizations a score of above 30 (out of 58.4), which indicates a high susceptibility to having security vulnerabilities presented externally for potential…

One of Australia’s largest regional water suppliers was breached for several months before detecting the unauthorized access, another worrying sign of weaknesses in critical infrastructure security. A Queensland Audit Office annual report on the water industry did not mention the provider by name but said it continues to see “significant control weaknesses in the security of information systems” across the industry. The breach in question occurred between August 2020 and May 2021, resulting in unauthorized access to…

Irish police have joined forces with Interpol to track down an organized crime gang that has already stolen more than €14m ($16m) from local businesses and individuals through business email compromise (BEC). The Garda has been investigating the gang for several years for multiple serious financial crime offenses. Its 18-month long Operation Skein has already led to the reported arrests of over 400 suspects, but the global nature of cybercrime meant international policing work was also needed….

The US Department of Defense is stepping up its cybersecurity efforts with a dedicated Zero Trust office set to open next month, according to a senior official. Pentagon CISO, David McKeown, said at the CyberCon event this week that the office would report into the CIO, although the senior executive in charge has not yet been named. Leadership buy-in to Zero Trust has helped to accelerate the opening, which can be seen in part as…

Cyber insurance has great potentials in improving cybersecurity practices and protecting organizations against the impact of security incidents, but these potentials “have yet to fully materialize.” This is the key highlight of a recent report developed by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) and the University of Kent in the UK. The report provides a comprehensive list of recommendations for both governments and organizations. Why cyber insurance? The World Economic…