Russian Banks keep on Getting Targeted with Petya and WannaCry Malware

Russia's Central Bank is continuously receiving reports from the country's banks about malware namely Petya and WannaCry targeting them, states the bank regulator on its portal.

The attacks have led to cases of individual malware infections, says the Central Bank adding that although the outcomes of the malware incidences have been removed fast still more cases are getting reported.

On 27th June, a security agency named Group-IB that handles cyber-crimes' deterrence and investigation stated that the Petya ransomware attacked the companies such as Mars, Bashneft, Rosneft, Mondelez International and Nivea. Petya locks PC-files and subsequently demands a $300 ransom to be paid in Bitcoins for regaining the lost files.

Russia and Ukraine seemed to be most affected with the ransom software - malware which encrypts data files such that the encryption can't be cracked followed with demanding huge fees in return of releasing the files. Within USA, the businesses affected with the malware were Mondelez International, company that owns the Nabisco and Oreo food brands, and Merck the drug manufacturer.

With the passing of the day, the attacks' speed seemed to slowdown, partly because the malicious software seemed as requiring PC-networks to have direct contact among them, an issue which may've lowered its dissemination within regions having lesser number of connections with Ukraine. Startribune.com posted this, June 27, 2017.

On 12th May 2016, one prominent assault against the PCs of Russian state institutions as well as companies was recorded. The assault happened to be within one large-scale campaign by unidentified hackers who by employing WannaCry targeted the PCs running Windows OS across 74 countries. Globally, cyber-criminals utilizing one cryptographic virus carried out 45,000 cyber assaults, with the greatest number of infections attempted inside Russia. The criminals aimed at earning the Bitcoin crypto-currency to the tune of $600 from every victim as a payment towards decrypting their locked PC-files.

What motivated the criminals to execute the malware attacks isn't known. In Ukraine, attacks have been constant by pro-Russian hackers that understandably twice disrupted the country's power plant during peak winter as also damaged the computers associated with its elections of May 2014.

» SPAMfighter News - 6/30/2017