Tech 2021: The Biggest Ransomware and Cyberattacks
Last year ended with the U.S. dealing with the consequences of the SolarWinds hack in which multiple federal agencies and private businesses were infiltrated. This year, more ransomware and cyberattacks were made, including on a major U.S. oil pipeline, a leading IT software provider, and even on makers of COVID-19 vaccines. A bombshell report also revealed some nations were using spyware to surveil world leaders, journalists and pro-democracy activists. Learn about how secure we were in 2021.
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Major Reported Cyberattacks of 2021
CNN — Cyber Command, the US military’s hacking unit, has taken offensive action to disrupt cybercriminal groups that have launched ransomware attacks on US companies, a spokesperson for the command confirmed to CNN Sunday. The spokesperson declined to specify what actions the command had taken. But …
Security researchers are scrambling to patch a major server issue caused by a bug in the open source Java logging library Log4J. The code is so popular that it's used in hundreds of applications and likely on half of all corporate networks on the internet. Hackers are said to be actively exploiting this vulnerability, one federal officials have called "most serious." Here's what you need to know about this bug and what you could do to protect yourself.
The largest petroleum pipeline in the country was reportedly breached by a single leaked password. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has managed to recover part of the ransom paid to the criminal hacking group believed to be responsible for the attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which disrupted a major …
A gang of Russia-linked hackers are believed to be responsible for infecting thousands of victims with ransomware after breaching the computer systems of IT software provider Kaseya. The attack has affected grocers, dental practices, architecture firms, libraries, and other businesses, as well as public agencies, worldwide. Hackers are demanding a ransom of $70 million in cryptocurrency. Read more about REvil, past cyberattacks it has launched, and what happens next.
Hackers have targeted companies that distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to a degree previously unreported, according to research from IBM …
Surveillance software belonging to Israeli tech firm NSO Group was used by authoritarian regimes around the world to track human rights activists, journalists and politicians. Originally intended for use against criminals and terrorists, the so-called Pegasus software targeted more than 50,000 phones, installing malware to extract messages, calls, emails and even access devices' microphone. Learn more about the findings from this global investigation.
This is not the first time GoDaddy has been hacked in recent years. In disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission, web registrar and hosting company GoDaddy has revealed that it discovered it had been hacked. The company says that it discovered an “unauthorized third party” had gained …
The incident is the fourth known breach at T-Mobile since 2018, and by far the largest. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert published an open apology to customers Friday after hackers stole more than 50 million users’ personal data, including their Social Security numbers and driver's license information. “The …
