Recent cyber attacks involving ransomware have garnered significant attention in recent days, with two notable incidents making headlines:
Patelco Credit Union, a prominent non-profit organization in the San Francisco Bay Area, confirmed it fell victim to a ransomware attack affecting banking systems used by over 500,000 members.
Erin Mendez, the CEO issued a statement that the company has taken all necessary measures to contain the malware incident and will seek expert advice in mitigating the risks.
Additionally, the organization has also made it clear those paying the bills will get extra time to fill in their finances and will not be facing any late fee or other charges in case of late pay.
The services impacted are online banking, online bill pay, balance sheet queries via web and mobile app and other misc. services.
Currently, even the debit & credit card functions are being curtailed, however, those approaching the branch and support services on a practical note will function as usual.
Patelco is trying its best to restore the services at the earliest, as some of them have been restored since Tuesday this week, while some need some expertise indulgence and time to recover.
Cheque and cash deposits, ATM withdrawals and deposits, automated clearance of finances and bill payments via cheque remain undisturbed.
Meanwhile, Kadokawa, a Japanese media conglomerate, disclosed a ransomware attack by the group BlackSuit, threatening to release stolen data on the dark web unless demands are met.
Sources say that the company is facing extreme disruptions due to the cyber-attack and the blackout has also crept onto the Niconico Video Sharing platform.
According to a media update released by BlackSuit ransomware gang, they have stolen about 1.5 TB of information and it includes details regarding customers, business partners and some R&D work, that is yet to be substantiated.
Kadokawa, that is also into the field of animation has issued deep apologies to all its users and business partners and admitted that it will handle this cyber incident on a clinical note and will take all precautionary measures to avoid such incidents near-time.
Reports suggest BlackSuit has ties to the defunct Conti Ransomware group and previously targeted CDK Group software used by US automobile sellers, allegedly receiving millions in ransom payments in a June 2024 incident.
Third is the news related to a ransomware attack that took place on an Indonesia Data Center. The ransomware group known as Brain Cipher locked down the servers at the data center and demanded $12 million from the victim that impacted over 230 organizations. But for some reason, the cyber criminals issued an apology and assured to return the decryption key, provided they get a public acclamation in the next couple of days.
