Hacking Group Stops Oil Pipeline and Breaks 45% of the United States Oil Supply

    Hacking Group Stops Oil Pipeline and Breaks 45% of the United States Oil Supply When you hear about a cyber attack, generally you assume that some sort of IT infrastructure suffered damage.  Your assumptions might include servers, web applications, or even the business processes that those systems support.  However, ransomware disables the largest pipeline in the United States in a recent attack.  This attack goes to show that as cyber attacks evolve, the cyber world can be used to inflict damage on the physical world and its infrastructure.   The Victim On May 7, 2021, the Colonial Pipeline suffered a ransomware attack that brought the pipeline’s operations to… Read More

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A Week in Security: REvil Extortion, RDP Stolen Credentials, Geico Breach, and Chrome Exploits

  A Week in Security: REvil Extortion, RDP Stolen Credentials, Geico Breach, and Chrome Exploits As we approach the weekend, let us look back at this past week at the top cyber security news.  This week in cyber security, REvil attempted to extort Apple using their stolen data.  Additionally, UAS leaked 1.3 million Windows RDP logins for sale on their marketplace.  Also in other news, Geico suffered a data breach that exposed some of their customers’ sensitive data and Google rushed to fix several zero-day exploits in Chrome.   REvil Attempts to Extort Apple Early in the week, the threat group REvil, known for their successful ransomware campaigns and living… Read More

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Toy Industry Giant, Mattel Faces Ransomware Attack

  Friday, November 6th, 2020 Happy Friday, readers! This week marks the beginning of November, and what some claim to be the official Christmas season.  In the spirit of Christmas, the lists of presents and preparations for the holiday are already underway. Children prepare their lists for Santa, and family members begin the hunt for the perfect gift.  Speaking of gifts, the topic of this week’s cyber attack of the week is toy giant, Mattel. Instead of the upcoming Christmas season being their number one priority, dealing with a ransomware attack takes precedent.    Mattel  To begin, Mattel is a household name when it comes to toys. Like many others,… Read More

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Ransomware Derails Montreal Public Transport IT Systems

  Friday October 23rd, 2020 Last Friday, the Cyber Attack of the Week series ventured across the pond to London. Today, we’re taking a trip up north to Canada. The city of Montreal to be exact! Although we wish the “trip” were under better circumstances, but, this is a series about cyber attacks. And this week, the Montreal Public Transport System is under attack.    The Attack in Montreal To begin, on October 19th, Société de transport de Montréal suffered an attack that crippled their IT systems, sites and customer support.  While the functions of the actual transport systems continued to operate during the attack, services to aid those with… Read More

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London Borough of Hackney Faces Cyber Attack

  Friday October 16th, 2020 Over the last few articles, the setting of many cyber attacks appears to be the US. Which makes sense, due to the fact that CPG resides and operates in the US. And also, cyber attacks present an all time high in 2020. But, this week, we are taking a look at a cyber attack across the Atlantic, in the UK. CPG’s Cyber Attack of the Week series takes a trip to London.   God Save the Queen (and Her IT Infrastructure) To begin, the city council systems of the London borough, Hackney, faced the cyber attack mentioned above.  Before we get into the details of… Read More

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Massachusetts School District Faces Cyber Attack due to COVID-19

  Monday, October 12th, 2020 What a busy week for cyber security news! (and it is only Monday). In previous articles, CPG mentions the countless ransomware attacks on the medical industry.  We see that due to COVID-19, cyber attacks, especially ransomware, are at an all time high.  Further, as we previously discussed the attacks on hospitals, attackers also have their eyes on another target, public schools. And for this article, a public school district specifically in Massachusetts.   School is Out in Massachusetts To begin, those who use ransomware, or any type of cyber attack in general are always looking for those in trouble, so to speak. For example, due… Read More

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Patient Care is now at Risk due to Ransomware Attacks on US Hospitals

  Monday October 5th, 2020 Over the course of the pandemic, hospitals and other medical facilities face unprecedented times. From strict mask and safety gear procedures to contact COVID-19 positive patients. Overall, hospitals have enough on their plates right now. But, also as a result of the pandemic, ransomware attacks on the medical industry are at an all time high.  Attackers are taking advantage of these chaotic times to attack and extort medical practices.    The Ransomware Attack Today, CPG is covering the topic of the risk hospitals and other medical facilities currently face. As mentioned above, ransomware attacks on hospitals are occurring all over the world. Hospitals who are… Read More

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Garmin Shuts Down Services for ‘Maintenance” After Ransomware Attack

  On July 23, 2020 Garmin, a GPS navigation and wearable technology company reported a ransomware attack that shutdown various sites and services to their customers.  At first, the attack was only reported as an issue included in an ongoing investigation. But, several employees of Garmin took to social media outlets to share the news of the ransomware attack.  Now, before we dive into the attack, let’s take a look at Garmin as a company, to better understand the impact of the attack.    Garmin  To begin, Garmin (per their About page on their website) “makes products that are engineered on the inside for life on the outside. We do… Read More

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UCSF Pays over a Million Dollars in Ransom to Hackers

   “We therefore made the difficult decision to pay some portion of the ransom, approximately $1.14 million…”   UCSF Under Attack On June 3rd, 2020, The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) announced a portion of their school faced a data breach. The portion of UCSF affected is the UCSF School of Medicine.  Reports indicate that the ransomware used to attack the school traces back to Netwalker Ransomware. After the discovery of the security incident and data encryption, UCSF decided to pay over one million dollars in ransom, for a decryption key.  Now, let’s take a look at the incident in greater detail, to understand the attack in its entirety. … Read More

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Knoxville, Tennessee hit with Cyber Attack Preventing Emergency Services from Responding

  City Cyber Threats Knoxville, Tennessee – the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains and delicious southern eateries. This city in Tennessee contains a population of almost 200,000 residents.  Contrary to popular belief, this city is not on the same population level as Nashville (almost 700,000 residents), but still brings in it’s own tourist crowd. Further, not only does the scenery and bustling downtown scene attract visitors, it also attracts cyber criminals to the technical infrastructure.  This Friday, CPG is taking a look at the cyber attack launched on the city of Knoxville, Tennessee. We will dive into the attack, and the effects in turn that are detrimentally affecting the… Read More

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