Malware

At 5.2 billion, India ranks 2nd globally in encrypted cyberattacks: Report

The United States topped the list with 11 billion attacks between October 2023 and September 2024: Zscaler ThreatLabz 2024 Encrypted Attacks Report

Major Uttarakhand govt websites impacted by malware attack restored

The websites of major government departments in Uttarakhand which were temporarily closed due to a malware attack in the 'State Data Center' were restored on Sunday. Nitika Khandelwal, Director of Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA), said that major websites like 'Apni Sarkar', 'E-Office', 'E-Ravanna portal and Chardham registration have been restored while the CM Helpline and 'State Portal' were restored on Saturday. The cyber attack took place on Wednesday, on a government holiday. Due to the shutdown of the online system, some of the work was done manually. Other works including verification of ration card holders were closed. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a high-level meeting reviewing the recent malware attack that temporarily closed down the state's data centre. Taking stock of the situation, he directed the officials to complete the scanning of the state's data centre and restore all the important websites and online services by ...

Disney to stop using Salesforce-owned Slack after hack exposed company data

The company had said in August it was investigating an unauthorized release of over a terabyte of data from one of its communication systems

Malware attacks in India increase by 11%; 22% jump seen in ransomware

Malware attacks in India rose by 11 per cent while ransomware cyber attacks jumped by 22 per cent in 2024, reflecting the escalating nature of cyber threats for businesses, a report by SonicWall said. Malware attacks rose by 11 per cent to 13,44,566 in 2024 from 12,13,528 in 2023, the 2024 SonicWall Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report said. Internet of Things (IOT) attacks went up by 59 per cent in the last one year to 16,80,787 in 2024 from 10,57,320 in 2023, it stated. While ransomware attacks went up by 22 per cent, India saw a surge in crypto attacks by 409 per cent, the report said. Organizations today confront a dynamic threat landscape where threat actors continually innovate to outpace enterprise defenses, SonicWall Vice President, APJ Sales Debasish Mukherjee said. At least 12.6 per cent of an organization's annual revenues were at risk to cyber threats as businesses endured on average 1,104 hours of critical attacks during a span of 880 working hours, the report said. Cyber ..

Number of devices hit by data-stealing malware up 600% in 3 years: Report

The number of devices compromised with data-stealing malware has increased more than 600 per cent in the past three years, according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. Kaspersky's Digital Footprint Intelligence data showed the number of personal and corporate devices compromised with data-stealing malware reached 10 million in 2023, registering a 643 per cent increase over the past three years. "According to Kaspersky's assessment, the number of infections that occurred in 2023 is projected to reach roughly 16,000,000," it said, noting an increase in the threat posed by data-stealers for both consumers and businesses. Cyber criminals steal an average of 50.9 log-in credentials per infected device, it said, adding that these credentials may encompass log-ins for social media, online banking services, crypto wallets, and various online services including email. The data, which drew insights from infostealer malware log files traded on underground markets, showed the actual number of ..

Apple Lockdown mode: What is it, and how it prevents spyware attacks

Only users who perceive themselves as potential targets should use the feature, says company

More risk of malware infection while accessing pirated websites: Study

Accessing pirated websites carries a higher risk of malware infection for Indian consumers compared to other platforms like those of adult content and gambling advertisements, says a study conducted by cybersecurity experts. Indian consumers underestimate their true cyber risk when using piracy sites, and there is an urgent need to address cybersecurity threats associated with these websites, as per the study by experts at the Indian School of Business (ISB). The 18-24 age group exhibits low awareness levels of cyber risks despite frequent engagement with these platforms, said 'The Piracy-Malware Nexus in India: A Perceptions and Experience and Empirical Analysis' report released here on Tuesday. It has been co-authored by Professor Manish Gangwar and Dr Shruti Mantri from the ISB Institute of Data Science and Dr Paul Watters, adjunct professor of cybersecurity at the La Trobe University, Melbourne. According to the report, "accessing pirated websites carries a higher risk of malwa

Piracy websites pose greater risk of malware, surpassing adult sites: Study

Piracy websites pose a higher threat of malware to Indian consumers, surpassing the risk from adult sites and gambling advertisements, a study said on Tuesday. Accessing piracy sites carries a higher risk of malware (59 per cent) compared to the adult industry (57 per cent) and gambling advertisements (53 per cent), the study -- The Piracy-Malware Nexus in India: A Perceptions and Experience and Empirical Analysis -- conducted by the Indian School of Business (ISB) said. The study is based on a survey conducted during May 23-29, 2023 among 1,037 respondents aged over 18 in India as part of the YouGov National Omnibus. Digital piracy poses significant risks to India's cultural outputs across various entertainment sectors, which refer to unauthorised copying, distribution, or sharing of copyrighted content, including movies, music, TV shows, books, software, and other forms of creative works, the study said. Piracy impacts the revenue streams of the Indian entertainment industry, ...

Google to provide AI cyber tools, investments to bolster online security

The company will also release a white paper on Friday at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that details how it is using AI for cyber defence

CAG expresses concern about security, integrity of data due to AI malware

"The discussions emphasized the importance of international collaboration, capacity building and consultation with various stakeholders to derive optimum benefits from Al"

FBI dismantles malware system that took millions in ransom globally

US officials estimated that, since its creation in 2008, Qakbot had infected around 200,000 computers in the US and 700,000 globally

66% of malware delivered via PDF files in malicious emails: Report

Between 2021 and 2022, researchers saw the average number of attacks experienced per customer in the manufacturing, utilities and energy industry increased by 238 per cent

Hackers target iPhones with unknown malware via iMessages to spy on users

Cybersecurity company Kaspersky discovered the mobile Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) campaign targeting iOS devices with previously unknown malware

New Android malware discovered that steals your passwords, 2FA codes

The FluHorse carrier apps mimic 'ETC,' a Taiwanese toll collection app, and 'VPBank Neo,' a Vietnamese banking app

Meta warns against ChatGPT imposters luring users to download harmful apps

Meta (formerly Facebook) has said that it had discovered malware creators who are taking advantage of the public's interest in ChatGPT and using this interest to entice users into downloading harmful

Hackers selling macOS malware on Telegram which extracts personal info

Threat actors are selling a new malware called -- Atomic macOS Stealer (AMOS) on Telegram channel to target macOS platforms, which is capable of extracting autofill information, passwords and wallets

27% of industrial sector computers in India affected by malware in 2022

The report said India has been highly affected by malicious scripts and phishing pages by 9.6 per cent and secondly by denylisted internet resources by 8.7 per cent when observing geographical regions

Up to 300% spike in YouTube videos with malware to steal key users' data

The videos contain deceptive tactics that mislead users into downloading malware, making it challenging for the YouTube algorithm to identify and remove them

200,000 mobile banking malware installers discovered in 2022: Report

About 2,00,000 new mobile banking Trojans installers (malware) were discovered in 2022, marking a two-fold increase from the previous year's figures, a new report revealed on Friday

This malware steals social media credentials under ChatGPT app disguise

The website then directs users to download a purported ChatGPT version for Windows, which is actually an archive containing an executable file