According to a recent FBI alert marked "TLP: AMBER," businesses should be on high alert for ransomware attacks.
The alert reads, in part, as follows:
"Since January 2019, LockerGoga ransomware has targeted large corporations and organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Norway, and the Netherlands.
As 2019 draws to a close, we can say definitively that the year has been another record-breaking one where data breaches are concerned. Hackers around the world have been busy in recent weeks, with a trio of high-profile cases making headlines.
In late November, one of China's largest manufacturers of smartphones (OnePlus) reported that an unauthorized third-party accessed their user data.
For decades, futurists have been promising a cashless shopping society and all the convenience that comes with it. So far though, the technology we have available hasn't lived up to the promise.
Sure, we're moving inexorably in the direction of a cashless society, but we're doing so at a snail's pace.
Have you downloaded the NVIDIA GeForce Experience (GFE) app? If you have, you need to apply the security update for protection against the Nvidia vulnerability.
It's a helper app designed to work in tandem with GeForce GTX graphics cards. It is designed to automate the process of keeping your drivers up to date and automatically optimize your game settings.
Do you still have a few machines in your company that are running Windows 7? If so, be aware that the end of Windows 7 support happens in a matter of weeks.
January 14, 2020 is the end of the line. After that, you will have the option to pay for extended security updates for up to three additional years.
Things aren't so easy in the Big Easy right now. The New Orleans ransomware attack has resulted in a shutdown.
As a result, most of the city's servers and computers are currently down.
However, at a recent press conference held by Mayor LaToya Cantrell, all New Orleans emergency services are intact.
The leaders of the ransomware known as Sodinokibi (REvil Ransomware) have announced a nasty new tactic to get their victims to pay up when their files get encrypted.
The hackers are now threatening that they'll begin releasing stolen data from the Sodinokibi ransomware to the general public or to competitors unless the ransom is paid.
Windows users aren't big fans of change. Recall the cries of outrage when Microsoft tried in vain to retire MS Paint, which was never a very good graphics program and only a small subcomponent of the company's OS. Users revolted to the point that Microsoft decided rather than kill off the ancient program, they simply moved it to the app store so people could keep access to it if and as they wished.
Instagram has made a recent change you should be aware of. Any time you make a comment, you may get a popup warning that your comment may be "potentially offensive".
That is if the service's AI-powered tools conclude that the warning is appropriate based on an analysis of other comments that have generated complaints.
On the Dark Web, there's a live webcast show called "NulledCast" that few people have ever heard of. It's pretty popular in Dark Web circles, though.
The premise of the show is this: The hosts will hack the cameras in home security systems and mess with the owners.
