CyberSec Roundup
A synopsis of the latest Cybersecurity News
Silk Road Bitcoin Seized
Silk Road was a marketplace on the dark web for illegal activity such as hacking services and money laundering. It was shut down in 2013 by the DOJ and its creator, Ross Ulbricht, was convicted in 2015 for enabling illegal activity on his website. However, the authorities were unable to track down the illicit funds associated with the website until recently. A hacker stole the bitcoins in 2013 and they were traced to a mysterious bitcoin wallet. Last week the DOJ seized the 69,369 bitcoins (approximately one billion dollars), however the government will need to prove the seizure was justified before it is finalized.
Ransomware hits Brazil and Mattel
Mattel, the 2nd largest toy manufacturer worldwide, recently disclosed that they were the victim of a ransomware attack in a SEC filling. It occurred in July and it resulted in many systems being encrypted, but it does not appear that any information was stolen. It is believed the attack was due to a TrickBot infection.
The RansomExx group launched an attack against the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice last week. A domain administrator account was compromised and used to infect the entire network with the malware. The attack has adversely affected many operations of the high court as many of its machines were encrypted. RansomeExx has had a few high-profile victims such as Konica Minolta and Tyler Technologies.
Luxottica Hacked
Luxottica, the largest eye wear brand in the world, disclosed that their appointment scheduling system for EyeMed Vision was hacked in August. The hackers would have had access to the personal and medical information of the patients in the system. While there hasn’t been any indication that the information has been misused, the company has informed impacted customers to monitor their accounts and be on the alert.
By: David Pinder
IT & Security Consultant
Certified Ethical Hacker
