#Microsoft #cyberattacks #ransomware
Cyber Defenses against Tech War


2021 has already broken records for cyberattacks, with an all-time high of 93% increase of ransomware and over 70% in all cyberattacks in the US in just 12 months. Offenses have reached a record of ransomware victims, with an unknown scope of attacks mostly in the US, and some victims in Europe as well. The ransomware attack, apparently conducted by the Russian speaking group REvil, represents a catastrophic combination of 2021’s most notorious cyberattack trends, supply chain attacks and ransomware. As many as 1,500 businesses around the world have been affected by the biggest ransomware attack to be recorded in history, the chief executive of American IT firm Kaseya has said.



Software has become a weapon and the data the prisoners of war. The hackers have demanded $70 million to restore all the affected businesses' data. Among the businesses affected are supermarkets in Sweden, IT companies in Germany and the Netherlands, and schools and kindergartens in New Zealand were knocked offline. The hackers have used the VSA software developed by Kaseya which helps companies remotely monitor their computer systems. The company said it sent a detection tool to nearly 900 customers. Ransomware criminals break into networks and sow malware that cripples networks on activation by scrambling all their data. Victims get a decoder key when they pay up. Sources said, REvil level examines the financial records of the victim – insurance claims if they can find them – before they encrypt the data. They threaten to dump the stolen data online, unless paid, which has become another source of income and a nightmare for the victim.


Today's Headline in NewsHours
0:00 Intro
2:03 #Microsoft recommends #Azure Users to Update PowerShell to Patch RCE Flaw
2:57 #GST collection comes low for first time after 8 months
3:59 #Blackstone to buy Sphera .