PC Matic Blog

75% of Ransomware Developed Has Russian Ties

Kayla Elliott / February 14, 2017

Russians Lead In Ransomware Development Russian based security company, Kaspersky, has confirmed 75% of crypto ransomware was developed by Russians or Russian-speaking individuals. To some, that may be surprising. For others, it may validate what they’ve assumed all along. According to Computing, there were 47 crypto ransomware variants that were developed by Russians or Russian-speaking individuals in 2016. All […]

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Illinois Police Department Corrupted With Ransomware

Kayla Elliott / February 10, 2017

The Telegraph recently reported another ransomware attack, this time taking down an Illinois police department. Roxana Police Department is remaining tight-lipped regarding the issue, but did confirm their systems have been infected with ransomware. However, here is what we don’t know: When the attack took place How the ransomware got onto the police department’s systems The

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UK City Council Loses Two Years Of Data After Ransomware Strikes

Kayla Elliott / February 7, 2017

According to Mirror, UK City Council located in Tiverton has just lost two years worth of data after a town clerk, John Vanderwolfe, clicked on a malicious attachment. Vanderwolfe stated clicking on the link was a lapse in judgement. He said instead of populating the data he expected after clicking the link, it just came up as a

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Ohio Government Completely Paralyzed After Ransomware Attack

Kayla Elliott / February 2, 2017

Ransomware Hit County Government Hard… After a vicious ransomware attack, the Licking County websites, phones, computers and county’s network have been taken offline. The systems are projected to remain offline until the end of this week. The problem was discovered Tuesday evening, and critical systems were immediately taken offline. The specific ransomware variant is not being disclosed,

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Back Ups Aren’t Enough and Here’s Why

Kayla Elliott / February 1, 2017

Back Ups – The Reactive Approach Ransomware strikes and your files are locked, and will remain locked unless you pay the ransom demand. What if you don’t want to pay? Back ups can be an effective way to replace the encrypted files, thus avoiding having to pay the hacker’s ransom demand. However, this is only

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Professor Infects California Nursing School With Ransomware

Kayla Elliott / January 30, 2017

In November, 2016, a professor at California nursing school, Gurnick Acadamy, was attempting to access his lectures. The lectures were saved on an external storage device, which he plugged into his work PC. It was then, he realized his lectures were gone. Completely encrypted. He contacted the school’s IT department for assistance. Luckily, the IT department worked not

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D.C. Surveillance Cameras Inoperable After Ransomware Attack

Kayla Elliott / January 30, 2017

Surveillance Cameras Infected With Ransomware Days before Trump’s inauguration, the Metropolitan Police Department discovered 123 surveillance cameras were inoperable due to two separate ransomware infections. The infections were found on January 12th and by January 15th the systems had been restored. Investigators resolved the issues by identifying and disconnecting the infected devices. All of the

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“Bluff” Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars

Kayla Elliott / January 27, 2017

The threat of ransomware continues to grow on a daily basis. Hackers are aware of this, and continue creating new ransomware variants to victimize new individuals. It is now clear, just the thought of being infected has become enough to pay. “Bluff” Ransomware Who would’ve predicted cyber criminals would just send the ransom note, without actually infecting

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Ransomware Threatens SMEs Like Never Before

Kayla Elliott / January 24, 2017

The Rise of Ransomware report has been released, and the details regarding the impact of ransomware on SMEs is incredibly shocking. The details were laid out in an article by ZDNet. According to ZDNet, 68% of SMEs considered themselves vulnerable, if not very vulnerable to a ransomware attack. However, the knowledge of the threat has

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Horse Racing Site Forced Offline After Third Consecutive Ransomware Attack

Kayla Elliott / January 23, 2017

Three Strikes–You’re Out! Racing Pulse, a popular horse racing website that is based out of Bangalore, India, was forced offline on January 17, 2017 after suffering its third ransomware attack in a week. The last, and most critical, encrypted their entire site. Dharma ransomware, the variant that took down Racing Pulse, encrypted all of the website’s data. The

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