Our midyear security roundup highlights threats that made their mark in the first half of 2019, and provides security insights to help users and organizations determine the right solutions and defense strategies against them.
The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) recently reported that the systems of 23 organizations in the state, mainly smaller local governments, were affected by ransomware attacks.
According to a new report, ransomware attacks against businesses increased by 363% percent year-over-year. There has also been a greater number of ransomware attacks targeting different public sectors and local governments since the start of 2019.
Reports of SYRK and STOP ransomware variants encrypting files on infected machines started off the month. Meanwhile, ENTSCRYPT aka GermanWiper, is a fileless ransomware and wiper that makes file retrieval impossible.
Lodi, California confirmed that the phone line and data systems disruptions it suffered months back was caused by a ransomware. The ransomware entered the city’s system disguised as an invoice attachment in an email to city staff.
Three ransomware attacks from last week caused notable disruptions on institutions from different public sectors, namely on an energy company, a law enforcement agency, and several public schools.
The GandCrab gang might be back to their old tricks. Various security researchers reported that the group might be responsible for releasing a more advanced ransomware variant called Sodinokibi.