German Gov wants a ‘backdoor’ access to every digital device

Germany’s Interior Minister wants to force tech and car companies to provide the German security services with hidden digital access to cars, computers, phones and more, according to a media report from Friday. The RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) reported that Thomas de Maizière had written up a draft proposal for the interior minister conference, taking place …

Andromeda botnet dismantled in international cyber operation

On 29 November 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in close cooperation with the Luneburg Central Criminal Investigation Inspectorate in Germany, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), the Joint Cybercrime Action Task Force (J-CAT), Eurojust and private-sector partners, dismantled one of the longest running malware families in existence called Andromeda (also known as Gamarue). This …

Nigeria lost about N127 billion to cybercrime in 2017

Dr Bukola Saraki, President of the Senate, on Monday 6 November 2017 revealed that Nigeria has lost about N127 billion to cybercrime. He made the revelation at Nigeria’s first Legislative Stakeholders Conference on ICT and Cyber security in Abuja. Saraki, who was represented by Philip Aduda Saraki, Senate Minority Whip did not, however, highlight the …

Uganda regarded a high-risk nation for Cyber-attacks

Cybercrime throughout Uganda is resulting in a loss of up to 122 billion Ugandan shillings for the nation according to a new Africa cybersecurity report for 2016, as compiled by Kenyan cybercrime organization, Serianu Cyber Threat Intelligence. Internet usage is growing rapidly in Uganda. Data from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs shows …

Cisco partners with Interpol to share data on cyber criminals

Just one day after Amazon Web Service (AWS) announced a “secret” cloud service for the CIA, another tech company is aligning itself with a government agency. Cisco will now share “cybercrime” data with the international police network Interpol, the company announced Tuesday. That data includes “threat intelligence” to support Interpol’s work “targeting both ‘pure cybercrime’ and …

Hackers reusing and improving existing malware

Software developers usually reuse code wherever possible, and hackers are no exception. While we often think of different malware strains as separate entities, the reality is that most new malware recycles large chunks of source code from existing malware with some changes and additions (possibly taken from other publically released vulnerabilities and tools). Examples of …

Scammers leveraging Google SEO to drive a hacked Windows Movie Maker version

The latest case of Windows Movie Maker scam involves cyber-criminals using their SEO skills to drive a modified version of the now defunct software, delivered from the bad guy’s site, to the top of Google’s rankings resulting in the malware quickly spreading. When downloaded the malware does nothing to the computer, but attempts to convince …

Malware Forecast: 2017 Cyber crime trends will likely dominate in 2018

In 2017, attackers developed new ransomware delivery techniques, leading to global outbreaks such as WannaCry, NotPetya and, most recently, Bad Rabbit. It’s a trend that’s expected to continue in the next year, according to the 2018 Malware Forecast released by Sophos on Thursday. The report reviews malicious activity analyzed by SophosLabs in 2017 to predict what might happen in 2018. Here’s …