Articles for August 2016

Ransomware is on the rise and the enterprise is feeling the pressure — with almost 40 percent of businesses experiencing a ransomware attack last year alone.

A new study conducted by Malwarebytes suggests that 34 percent of businesses lose revenue because of such attacks, and 20 percent have had to stop operations completely in the aftermath of a successful data breach.

The cybersecurity firm released the report, titled “ State of Ransomware,” on Wednesday, which explored how ransomware is spreading. This particular breed of malware, once downloaded and executed on a compromised system, encrypts or locks files away before demanding payment in return for a key which will decrypt system files and return the PC to normal.

Source: Ransomware rises to strike almost 40 percent of enterprise companies | ZDNet

Human traits like curiosity “cannot be patched” against these kinds of vulnerabilities, says one leading computer science researcher.

Source: How hackers can make ‘virtually any person’ click on a dangerous link | ZDNet

Researchers have once again proved they can take over your vehicle — but this time, they can kill your brakes. [Updated]

Source: Hackers hijack Jeeps once more, your brakes belong to them | ZDNet

PhishMe’s Q2 malware review claims that ransomware is now firmly rooted in the attacker realm.

Source: Encryption ransomware now ‘tried and trusted’ attacker business model | ZDNet