Turns out the fastest way to get a company to consider paying a ransom isn’t calling the CEO – it’s targeting the 46-year-old IT manager.
That’s according to Zscaler, whose ThreatLabz researchers tracked 351 victims across 334 organizations caught up in a single ransomware campaign over the course of a month.
The data suggests today’s ransomware crews have become oddly specific about their preferred victim profile: nearly two-thirds of victims held manager-level titles or above, the average victim was a 46-year-old Gen Xer, and three-quarters worked in accounting and finance, sales, operations, HR, or marketing. Half worked in the industrial or IT sectors.
Read more…
Source: The Register News
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- LokiBot Redux Attacks Massive List of Common Android Apps
July 16, 2020
Researchers have discovered a new variant of the LokiBot trojan called BlackRock, that’s attacking not just financial and banking apps, but also a massive list of well-known and commonly used brand-name apps on Android devices. The apps targeted include: Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Grinder, Instagram, Netflix, PlayStation, Reddit, Skype, Snapchat, TikTok, Tinder, Tumblr, Twitter, Uber and VK, ...
- New BlackRock Android malware can steal passwords and card data from 337 apps
July 16, 2020
A new Android malware strain has emerged in the criminal underworld that comes equipped with a wide range of data theft capabilities allowing it to target a whopping 337 Android applications. Named BlackRock, this new threat emerged in May this year and was discovered from mobile security firm ThreatFabric. Researchers say the malware was based on the ...
- Diebold Nixdorf warns of a new class of ATM ‘black box’ attacks across Europe
July 16, 2020
ATM maker Diebold Nixdorf is warning banks of a new type of ATM “black box” attack that was recently spotted used across Europe. ATM “black box” attacks are a type of jackpotting attack — when cybercriminals make an ATM spit out cash. A jackpotting attack can be executed with malware installed on an ATM, or by ...
- Major US Twitter accounts hacked in Bitcoin scam
July 16, 2020
Billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are among many prominent US figures targeted by hackers on Twitter in an apparent Bitcoin scam. The official accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kanye West also requested donations in the cryptocurrency. “Everyone is asking me to give back,” a tweet from Mr Gates’ account said. “You send ...
- Caught in the Crossfire: Defending Devices From Battling Botnets
July 15, 2020
Strength in numbers is the main principle behind botnets, networks of devices that have been infected and turned into bots to be used in performing attacks and other malicious activities. With the dawn of the internet of things (IoT), botnet developers have found a new domain to conquer, but there they must compete with one ...
- The Tetrade: Brazilian banking malware goes global
July 14, 2020
Brazil is a well-known country with plenty of banking trojans developed by local crooks. The Brazilian criminal underground is home to some of the world’s busiest and most creative perpetrators of cybercrime. Like their counterparts’ in China and Russia, their cyberattacks have a strong local flavor, and for a long time, they limited their attacks ...