South Africa
R1.1bn ransom demanded by Hackers from TransUnion, Experian
According to the ITWeb article, notorious Brazilian hacker group N4ughtySecTU Group is, once again, tormenting credit bureaus TransUnion and Experian, claiming it has breached their IT systems, again. According to a report by Times Live, the hacker group is demanding a ransom of $60 million (R1.1 billion) from the credit bureaus. However, the companies have refuted that they have been hacked, saying they have not seen anything untoward in their IT systems.
Western Cape legislature hit by cyberattack
The IOl news release mentioned that in the wake of the rise in cyber crime and the Western Cape legislature’s parliamentary cyber attack in May, it is no surprise that cyber attacks and the protection of data are in the spotlight. According to reports, the oversight committee heard that extortionists demanded a ransom and that confidential information about members of the legislature was leaked. The attack also rendered the legislature’s information and communication technology (ICT) services inaccessible. The question remains: If it can happen to an organisation such as the Western Cape legislature, can it happen to you?
Cybercriminals targeted fans in the 2023 Rugby World Cup
Another IOl news release refers to how the highly anticipated 2023 Rugby World Cup was finally here, and excitement among fans worldwide was palpable. As enthusiasts gear up for the epic sporting event set in France, many are on the hunt for tickets to witness the action firsthand.
However, amidst this hype and fervour, cybercriminals are ready to exploit unsuspecting fans in search of last-minute deals. Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy and Evangelist at KnowBe4 AFRICA, says the cybercriminals approach is deceptive and manipulative and can leave innocent fans vulnerable to phishing, fraud, and scams.
International
Hospital rooms in three US states closed due to Cyber Attack
A cyber-attack has shut down emergency rooms in at least three states, a hospital operator warned on Monday, forcing the organization to divert patients to other facilities, according to an article by The Guardian. Ardent Health, which oversees 30 hospitals in states across the US, including New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, said it had been targeted by a ransomware attack over the Thanksgiving holiday. The attack had shut down a significant number of its computerized services, the company said in a news release.
Cyber Attack has thousands of house purchases in the UK frozen
The Telegraph has reported that thousands of home moves have been thrown into limbo following a cyber attack on an IT company used by property conveyancers An outage at CTS has hit around 80 law firms, halting a series of property exchanges and completions across the country since Wednesday. Rob Hailstone, chief executive of Bold Legal Group, which runs a forum for 1,700 conveyancers, said the outage has the potential to affect thousands of home moves. Mr Hailstone said: “Some firms that should be completing can’t, so notices to complete are being served. Some people could end up in hotels or elsewhere.” Customers could make claims for losses as a result of breaches of contract, he added.
Data breach impacting thousands in the USA says Sony
Sony Interactive Entertainment (Sony) has notified current and former employees and their family members about a cybersecurity breach that exposed personal information, mentioned in an article by Bleeding Computer. The company sent the data breach notification to about 6,800 individuals, confirming that the intrusion occurred after an unauthorized party exploited a zero-day vulnerability in the MOVEit Transfer platform. The zero-day is CVE-2023-34362, a critical-severity SQL injection flaw that leads to remote code execution, leveraged by the Clop ransomware in large-scale attacks that compromised numerous organizations across the world. Clop ransomware gang added Sony Group to its list of victims in late June. However, the firm did not provide a public statement until now.