What's Next for U.S. and Russia as Tensions Grow Over Ukraine

A military buildup along the Ukrainian border is further straining ties between Russia and the U.S., after clashes over cybercrime, expulsions of diplomats and a migrant crisis in Belarus. WSJ explains what is deepening the rift between Washington and Moscow. 

 

Kaspersky finds that cryptomining malware was up, financial malware down in Q1 2021

Bitcoin prices rocketed in early 2021, and so did the number of cybercriminals distributing malware to force infected devices to mine them, with numbers quadrupling from February to March alone.
Kaspersky finds that case of cryptomining malware were up, while financial malware was down in Q1 2021.

Kaspersky has published two reports detailing the state of the cybersecurity threat landscape in the first quarter of 2021. The first report, details desktop attacks and found that cryptomining malware has exploded in popularity, while the second report covering mobile devices, revealed that a popular Trojan targeting gamers has made the leap from PC to Android. 

Read the article and access the reports HERE. 

 

Cybercrime - Was this the most daring bank theft ever attempted?

In November 2014, one of the world's biggest movie studios was the target of a devastating cyber attack. The aftermath left Hollywood reeling - but an even bigger shock was in store. In the first episode of a new BBC podcast, Geoff White and Jean Lee investigate the story of the Lazarus Heist.

“Almost a perfect crime.” The hacking ring and an attempt to steal a billion dollars. Investigators blame North Korea. Pyongyang denies involvement. The story begins in Hollywood.

Listen to this BBC podcast HERE.

Cyber attacks turn deadly

Experts have been warning for years that it's not a matter of if, but when, hackers will kill somebody. What already has happened and what still could happen is mind-boggling.

To view CLICK HERE

Where is cybercrime really comming from?

From TED:

Cybercrime netted a whopping $450 billion in profits last year, with 2 billion records lost or stolen worldwide. Security expert Caleb Barlow calls out the insufficiency of our current strategies to protect our data. His solution? We need to respond to cybercrime with the same collective effort as we apply to a health care crisis, sharing timely information on who is infected and how the disease is spreading. If we're not sharing, he says, then we're part of the problem.
 

Digital trends driving bank innovation - How to beat cybercrime

Banks need to focus on technology, processes and staffing issues if they are to prevent cybercrime, says Royal Bank of Scotland's head of compliance and controls – payments.

The Dhaka caper

From The Economist -

“Online thieves unseat the governor of Bangladesh’s central bank.

It was audacious as any heist and yet unlikely material for a Hollywood blockbuster. Hackers masquerading as officials from Bangladesh’s central bank asked the New York branch of the Federal Reserve to transfer nearly $1 billion to private bank accounts in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. By the time authorities cottoned on, $101m had been nicked. On March 15th Atiur Rahman, the governor of Bangladesh’s central bank, took the blame and resigned.”

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Mobile Banking Threats – What’s on the cards?

The Latest Data on Mobile Banking Threats
From PYMNTS.com -

“Mobile financial threats are now among the ranks of the top ten malicious programs that were created to steal money, according to new data from Kaspersky Lab.

In its latest security bulletin about the trends in 2015, it dives into what it calls the “rapid spread of ransomware,” which Kaspersky Lab reported being found in 200 countries and territories alone in 2015. But that’s not to say traditional financial cybercrime has gone down. In general, its data showed that cyberattacks committed against businesses doubled in 2015.

Kaspersky’s data shows that its lab solutions blocked “almost 2 million” attempts to launch malware that the firm says is capable of stealing money through online banking using computers. This was a 2.8 percent increase from the year prior.”

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