Computer safety has never been more of a necessity, regardless of your location in the world. This week’s cyber news recap spans from Western Europe to Australia, with a variety of threats that everyday users may face themselves.
UK Hospital System Hit with Malware
In the last few days, a hospital network in the UK was infected with what is likely ransomware. This incident has lead officials of the affected hospitals to temporarily shut down all hospital operations until the infection is isolated and removed. While current patients will still receive care, all emergency cases are being transferred to other area locations. It comes as no surprise to see yet another hospital fall victim to cybercriminals due to the lack due to lack of security that’s systematic across the industry.
Flash Player Android App Actually Banking Trojan
Recently, many smartphone users may have noticed an increase in popups requesting payment card information. While initially unsuspecting, upon installation, the app will request administrative rights for the device and begin gathering data from over 90 different banking apps and other social media apps. Consumers using third-party app stores should be extremely cautious as the trojan uses fake overlays to appear as a legitimate application.
Converse Online Store Hacked
In the weeks following the largest data breach in Australia’s history, the country’s online retail site for Converse shoes was hacked. The prime target was payment card information, as is the norm for many of the recent online-retailer cyberattacks. However, the figures for any compromised information are still unknown. Fortunately for any customers that made purchases during that period of time, the site was able to remediate the incident quickly.
CEO Phishing Scam Targets New Zealand Nurses
With email scams always changing and evolving, the weakest point in an organization’s security is still the employees. Earlier in the week, an email coming from the alleged CEO of the New Zealand Nurses Organization requested the email addresses of all 47,000 employees. The recipient swiftly responded with the full list. Unfortunately for the victim, the email wasn’t from a legitimate source or even a company email domain, as the sender was noted to be a Yahoo address.
Google Discloses Windows Vulnerability, Receives Backlash from Microsoft
In the past week, Google released information regarding a zero-day vulnerability in a Windows OS kernel that was actively being exploited in the wild. After disclosing the information to Microsoft to get the issue resolved, they announced a simplified statement about the vulnerability. As some might suspect, Microsoft took offense as they require a more unified public disclosure. Microsoft has also announced a coordinated effort with Google and Adobe to mitigate any negative outcomes of the recent exploits and that a patch will be released in the coming days.
