The Cyber News Rundown brings you the latest happenings in cybersecurity news weekly. Who am I? I’m Connor Madsen, a Webroot Threat Research Analyst, and a guy with a passion for all things security. Any questions? Just ask.
Hospital Pays Ransom to Restore Systems, Despite Having Backups
In the first cyberattack of 2018 to hit a healthcare organization, an Indiana hospital’s entire network was taken offline. Despite having full backups on-hand, the hospital paid the $55,000 Bitcoin ransom right away. Officials stated they paid the ransom to get the systems back to normal as quickly as possible, since restoring everything from their backups could have taken weeks. Fortunately for patients, no data was stolen, and the staff could continue assisting new arrivals the old-fashioned way (that’s right: pen and paper) until system functionality was restored.
Audio Attacks Used for Damaging Hard Drives
A recent collaborative study performed by two universities proved that, within a reasonable proximity, an attacker could use acoustic signals to target a hard disk drive, leading to data corruption on the device. While many people could explain why this type of attack is possible, the study determined that the attacks required not only a specific frequency based on the hard drive in question, but also a precise distance from the drive and angle of sound projection to execute a successful attack.
New Android Platform Takes Spying to New Heights
A new Android spying platform has been discovered that puts all its predecessors to shame. By implementing several new features, such as location-based audio recording, compromising WhatsApp messages, and even allowing attackers to connect the device to malicious WiFi networks, this software platform gives attackers an all-new range of methods to target victims. The platform is based around five known exploits in the Android OS, and it uses them to gain administrative access to the device.
Latest Netflix Phish Asks for User Selfie
Within the last week, a new email phishing campaign has been spotted targeting Netflix users. The email informs users that a “hold” has been placed on their account pending further information. It requests users upload a photo of themselves with an ID card and prompts them to update their billing information, before redirecting them to the real Netflix login page.
RubyMiner Found on Older Linux and Windows Servers
A new cryptocurrency miner variant has been targeting outdated system servers that run both Linux and Windows. The variant, known as RubyMiner, identifies the unsecured servers using a web server tool, then gains access via a variety of exploits to install a modified Monero miner. RubyMiner deviates from similar miners in that it focuses on machines that have likely been forgotten about, and so remain on without being regularly patched.
