Amid the global crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, a constant threat of ransomware has become a cause of concern. Cybersecurity organization Symantec has recently garnered attention by blocking a ransomware attack. It was one of the most powerful attempts from the Evil Group hackers. They are known for charging ransom in bitcoins.
Learn from the Case Study
The attackers were targeting the IT infrastructures of Symantec. However, the firm had installed a breaching alert to get priority notifications for these attempts. The WastedLocker ransomware managed to breach their network. However, the security firm observed the infiltration while examining unusual behavior on a customer’s network and prevented it on time. The security specialist alerted all the customers. A successful attack could have incurred significant damage.
Estimating the Losses Prevented
According to a recent study of the cybersecurity firm Fox-IT, the Evil Group might retry the attack later. The hackers are renowned for demanding millions dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency from the victims. They have been charging a total sum of $10 million from all the U.S. organizations suffering from the attack.
With the right usage of advanced machine learning, the Symantec Targeted Attack Cloud Analytics team has detected the attack at an early stage. The team has been observing the patterns of recent cyber breach activities.
Sending Alerts to Others
Though the security firm failed to identify the intended victims, they have alerted potential targets in the manufacturing sector. The Evil Group has targeted five organizations from the industry so far. Earlier, they halted their operations till January 2020 due to the prosecution of a few alleged members. The attackers have affected about 31 firms so far through ransomware attacks.
Ransomware is a malware attempt that blocks users from accessing their digital devices or data. It compels the victims to pay a ransom through an illegitimate mode of payment to get access to the device or data again. Click on the following link to read the original article: https://cointelegraph.com/news/ransomware-gang-failed-to-deploy-an-attack-against-30-us-firms
