There’s a lot that happens in the cybersecurity world, with many stories getting lost in the mix. In an effort to keep our readers informed and updated, we present the Webroot Threat Recap, highlighting 5 major security news stories of the week.
European Company Loses Millions in Targeted Phishing Scam
In the last couple weeks, Leoni AG, one of the largest electrical wiring companies in Europe fell victim to a Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam involving the CFO transferring a significant sum of money to a non-verified bank account. This location was likely the main target due to it being the only one of four factories that has the authorization to transfer money, and did so by spoofing an email to the companies CFO with very specific details about their internal transfer protocol, and “sent” from one of the company’s higher ranking executives.
Hotel & Restaurant Chain Warns of Jeopardized Payment Terminals
Recently, Kimpton Hotels has issued a statement that verifies the presence of malware on payment processing devices in over 60 of their locations across the country. It is believed that credit cards used at these locations in the first half of 2016 may be compromised and should be monitored for illicit transactions taking place. While the incident is still under investigation as yet another victim in a long line of large-profile targets, Kimpton officials are still unclear on the source of the breach.
Blizzard and EA Face DDoS Attacks during Releases
With the launch of the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Legion, occurring in the same week as the online-beta release of Battlefield 1, it comes as no surprise that both companies were in a prime position for a cyberattack. Unfortunately, that’s just what happened, as both companies were hit with DDoS attacks that brought several servers down for a period, and affected latency for many gamers trying to access the games upon availability.
NHS Hospitals Hit with Ransomware, Not Paying Up
In a recent study done of nearly 60 NHS institutions in the UK, over half had been the victims of at least one ransomware attack in the last year, though none had resulted in the ransom being paid. Of the hospitals that were affected, the vast majority were able to recover their encrypted data by restoring from backups that are created and stored internally. While ransomware is continuing its spread across the globe in search of easy targets, the best defense is still to have full backups of sensitive information and be prepared for what has become an inevitability for many organizations.
Hacker Exposes Poor IT Security of Kuwait Auto Import Company
While many hackers are on the lookout for a quick payday, or simply to prove they have the capabilities, one hacker has made his mission to teach poor IT admins a lesson. By breaching the Kuwait Automotive Import Company’s main site and obtaining sensitive details on over 10,000 customers, the hacker has definitely sent a message on the importance of strong cybersecurity. After the breach took place, the entire data dump was posted to pastebin, where it remains readily available to the general public.
