Linux ransomware | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

South Korean web hosting provider has agreed to pay $1 million in bitcoins to hackers after a Linux ransomware infected its 153 servers, encrypting 3,400 business websites and their data, hosted on them. According to a blog post published by NAYANA, the web hosting company, this unfortunate event happened on 10th June when ransomware malware hit its hosting servers and attacker demanded 550 bitcoins (over $1.6 million) to unlock the encrypted files. However, the company later negotiated with the cyber criminals and agreed to pay 397.6 bitcoins (around $1.01 million) in three installments to get their files decrypted. The hosting company has already paid two installments at the time of writing and would pay the last installment of ransom after recovering data from two-third of its infected servers. According to the security firm Trend Micro , the ransomware used in the attack was Erebus that was first spotted in September last year and was seen in February this year with Win

What you'll do if Ransomware infects you? Should you pay or not to recover your files? Believe me, the FBI advises - Pay off the criminals to get your files back if you don't have a backup. But paying off a ransom to cyber criminals is definitely not a wise option because there is no guarantee that you'll get the decryption key in return. In the latest incident, the new variant of KillDisk ransomware has been found encrypting Linux machines, making them unbootable with data permanently lost. What is KillDisk? KillDisk is a destructive data wiping malware that has previously been used to sabotage companies by randomly deleting files from the computers. KillDisk is the same component associated with the Black Energy malware that was used to hit several Ukrainian power stations in 2015, cutting power for thousands of people. But according to ESET security researchers, the nasty KillDisk disk wiper malware is back with new variants that target Windows and Lin

Imagine a world where the software that powers your favorite apps, secures your online transactions, and keeps your digital life could be outsmarted and taken over by a cleverly disguised piece of code. This isn't a plot from the latest cyber-thriller; it's actually been a reality for years now. How this will change – in a positive or negative direction – as artificial intelligence (AI) takes on a larger role in software development is one of the big uncertainties related to this brave new world. In an era where AI promises to revolutionize how we live and work, the conversation about its security implications cannot be sidelined. As we increasingly rely on AI for tasks ranging from mundane to mission-critical, the question is no longer just, "Can AI  boost cybersecurity ?" (sure!), but also "Can AI  be hacked? " (yes!), "Can one use AI  to hack? " (of course!), and "Will AI  produce secure software ?" (well…). This thought leadership article is about the latter. Cydrill  (a

Ransomware is now a common practice for money-motivated cyber criminals. It's basically a type of software written in any system-based programming language that has the ability to hijack victim's computer, encrypts files and then ask for a ransom amount to get them back. One such ransomware dubbed Linux.Encoder targets Linux-powered websites and servers by encrypting MySQL, Apache, and home/root folders associated with the target site and asks for 1 Bitcoin ( $453.99 ) to decrypt those crucial files. But, the good news is it is very easy to get rid of it. The Malware author released the third version of the Linux.Encoder ransomware, which security researchers from Bitdefender have managed to crack, yet again, after breaking previous two versions. However, before the team managed to release the Linux.Encoder decryption tool, the third iteration of Linux.Encoder ransomware, which was first discovered by antivirus maker Dr.Web, has infected a nearly 600 servers w

Here's New Year's first Ransomware: Ransom32 . A new Ransomware-as-a-service, dubbed Ransom32 , has been spotted that for the first time uses a ransomware written in JavaScript to infect Mac, Windows as well as Linux machines. Ransom32 allows its operators to deploy the malware very quickly and easily. It has a dashboard that enables operators to designate their Bitcoin addresses to which the ransom can be sent. The dashboard also shows stats about how much Bitcoins they have made. In short, this new ransomware-as-a-service is so simple, and efficient at the same time, that anyone can download and distribute his/her own copy of the ransomware executable as long as he/she have a Bitcoin address. The copy of Ransom32 was first analysed by Emsisoft, which found that the new ransomware family, which embedded in a self-extracting WinRAR archive, is using the NW.js platform for infiltrating the victims' computers, and then holding their files by encrypting the

Since past few years, Ransomware has emerged as one of the catastrophic malware programs that lets hacker encrypts all the contents of a victim's hard drive or/and server and demands ransom (typically to be paid in Bitcoin ) in exchange for a key to decrypt it. Until now cyber criminals were targeting computers, smartphones and tablets, but now it appears they are creating ransomware that makes the same impact but for Web Sites – specifically holding files, pages and images of the target website for Ransom. Dubbed Linux.Encoder.1 by Russian antivirus firm Dr.Web , the new strain of ransomware targets Linux-powered websites and servers by encrypting MySQL, Apache, and home/root folders associated with the target site and asking for 1 Bitcoin ( ~ $300 ) to decrypt the files. The ransomware threat is delivered to the target website through known vulnerabilities in website plugins or third-party software. Must Read: FBI Suggests Ransomware Victims — 'Just Pay th