The best cyber story for February 2022
Another month. Another cyber attack. If anyone is under the illusion that 2022 will probably see a slowdown in cyber attacks as opposed to 2021, February decisively resolves that notion. The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a crowd of mourners.
Ukraine government and bank website crash
Tensions between Ukraine and Russia eventually escalated into Russian aggression in Ukraine. Military conflict has dominated the headlines, but the war could spill over into the cyber sphere. Several websites of banks and government departments in Ukraine crashed in late February after the DDOS attack. Also, HermeticWiper malware was used against targets in Ukraine to make the data of infected devices unusable.
Ukrainian officials have blamed Russia for the attacks in the past. The latest cyber attacks on Ukraine come as authorities and cyber security experts in the United States, Canada and Europe raise their cyber alerts as they prepare for possible attacks by Russia-affiliated hacking groups.
Toyota To close Factory in Japan
Toyota Motor Corporation, one of the world’s largest car manufacturers by size, revenue and market cap, has suspended factory operations in Japan for at least a day in response to a cyber attack on suppliers of electronic components and plastic components.
The attacker and the motive are still unclear. The Japanese prime minister has vowed to investigate whether the incident was linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The attack comes just days after Japan joined its allies in imposing sanctions on Russia and aiding Ukraine.
Red Cross data infringement
Even humanitarian agencies are not safe. A sophisticated attack has compromised sensitive information from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The hackers obtained the names, contact and location information of more than half a million people receiving services from the ICRC, as well as details of about 2,000 volunteers.
The attackers mounted an unpatched vulnerability on an authentication module.
Sinclair’s $ 24 million ransomware loss
The Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns the second-largest number of TV stations in the United States, has announced an irreparable loss of $ 24 million for the October 2021 ransomware attack. The release was part of the company’s fourth quarter financial results report.
No ransom was paid, the company said. The losses included the cost of event management, the impact on advertising revenue, and the likelihood of paying insurance. The investigation and recovery work is still going on so in the end the total damage may be more.
Other attacks
Other major cyber attacks that have occurred, been discovered or significant developments announced in February include the UK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, giant chipmaker Nvidia, dozens of European petroleum product storage terminals, UK-based snack maker KP Snacks, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, Insurers Aon, NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, Media Group News Corp and Vodafone Portugal.