Content by Scott Ferguson

Ecuador Hit With 'Cyberattacks' After Assange's Arrest

Scott Ferguson  •  April 17, 2019

The government of Ecuador has been hit with millions of "cyberattacks" following its withdrawal of asylum protection for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his arrest by British police last week, an Ecuadorian official says.

Hackers Reportedly Post Data on Law Enforcement Officers

Scott Ferguson  •  April 15, 2019

Federal law enforcement authorities are investigating an apparent breach of three chapters of FBI National Academy Associates, a nonprofit training and education organization that's independent of the FBI. The breach may have exposed data on thousands of law enforcement officials.

Silk Road 2.0 Operator Sentenced to Prison

Scott Ferguson  •  April 15, 2019

An unemployed British man has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for his role in operating the Silk Road 2.0 darknet site, which succeeded the original Silk Road website after the FBI closed it in 2013, U.K. authorities say.

US CERT Warns of N. Korean 'Hoplight' Trojan

Scott Ferguson  •  April 12, 2019

U.S. CERT has issued a fresh warning about a newly discovered Trojan called Hoplight that is connected to a notorious APT group with links to North Korea. The malware has the ability to disguise the network traffic it sends back to its originators, making it more difficult to track its movements.

Two Romanian Nationals Convicted in 'Bayrob' Malware Case

Scott Ferguson  •  April 12, 2019

Two Romanian nationals have been convicted by a federal jury for their roles in stealing more than $4 million from victims by creating a botnet of more than 400,000 PCs through custom-designed malware called Bayrob.

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Arrested; US Seeks Extradition

Scott Ferguson  •  April 11, 2019

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who released hacked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and many other secret U.S. documents, was arrested in London Thursday, and now the U.S. is seeking his extradition.

Kaspersky: New 'TajMahal' APT Malware Enables Espionage

Scott Ferguson  •  April 10, 2019

A new type of malware, dubbed TajMahal, offers its users a host of espionage techniques, including the ability to steal documents sent to a printer queue and pilfer data from a CD, Kaspersky Lab reports. But researchers have only identified one victim so far.

Report: FIN6 Shifts From Payment Card Theft to Ransomware

Scott Ferguson  •  April 9, 2019

FIN6, a cybercrime group that has focused on attacking point-of-sale devices to steal credit card numbers, now also is waging ransomware attacks that target businesses with either LockerGoga or Ryuk, according to a new analysis from security firm FireEye.

UK Man Gets Six-Year Sentence for Global Ransomware Scheme

Scott Ferguson  •  April 9, 2019

A 24-year-old man living in England has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for his role in a ransomware scheme that targeted millions of computers across 20 countries, the U.K.'s National Crime Agency announced Tuesday.

Congressional Report Rips Equifax for Weak Security

Scott Ferguson  •  April 8, 2019

The lack of a strong security culture at Equifax - especially compared to its two main competitors - was a key factor contributing to its 2017 data breach that exposed the personal records of 145 million Americans, according to a 71-page Congressional report.

E-Commerce JavaScript Sniffer Attacks Proliferate: Report

Scott Ferguson  •  April 5, 2019

JavaScript sniffers - specialized malware that skims credit card information and other data from online shopping - are becoming far more prevalent, with several cybercriminal groups using the malware to target victims all over the world, a new analysis by security firm Group-IB finds.

Sen. Warren Wants CEOs Jailed After Big Breaches

Scott Ferguson  •  April 4, 2019

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, has introduced legislation that would pave the way for top executives at major corporations to face criminal charges if their company's wrongdoing leads to harm, such as a major data breach. While business groups immediately criticized the plan, consumer advocates praised it.

Mar-a-Lago Arrest Raises Espionage, Security Concerns

Scott Ferguson  •  April 4, 2019

Federal investigators have opened a counterintelligence investigation into possible spying by the Chinese government following the arrest of a 32-year old woman at the Trump Organization's Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida last week, according to the Miami Herald.

Millions of Facebook Records Found Unsecured on AWS

Scott Ferguson  •  April 3, 2019

Two third-party Facebook application developers exposed users' personal information by leaving the data exposed without a password in unsecured Amazon Web Services S3 buckets, researchers from UpGuard say. One data set contained 540 million unsecured records, the report found.

Maryland Man Sentenced for Leading $4.2 Million BEC Scheme

Scott Ferguson  •  April 3, 2019

A 31-year-old Maryland man will serve time in prison for his leadership role in a business email compromise scheme that netted him and five others $4.2 million from 13 victims over a two-year period.