Teceze Blog
What is Ransomware and the List of Ransomware Attacks in 2020?
Ever wondered what all the fuss around ransomware attacks is about? You heard about it in the office, or you read it in the news. You might have a pop-up right now on your computer screen that warns you of a ransomware infection. Okay, if you are interested to learn anything that you need to know about ransomware, you’ve come to the right place.
What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is a kind of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system or computer files with a demand of paying out a sum of money. Most variants of ransomware encrypt the files on the affected device, rendering them unavailable and demand a ransom payment in order to restore access to them.
Ransomware code is often not sophisticated, but it doesn’t have to be, because unlike other forms of conventional malware, it doesn’t generally need to stay undetected for a long time to achieve its target. This relative ease of implementation versus high-profit potential, attracts both sophisticated actors of cybercrime and novice actors to run ransomware campaigns.
How do we receive Ransomware?
Most ransomware is delivered via email which appears to be legitimate, encouraging you to click links or download an attachment which delivers the malicious software. Ransomware is also delivered on compromised or malicious websites, via drive-by-download attacks. Some ransomware attacks were also sent using messaging from social media.
Generic ransomware is rarely targeted individually, instead a “shotgun” approach – where attackers acquire email lists or compromised websites and blast out ransomware. Given the number of attackers out there, it’ll definitely be by another attacker if you get hit several times.
Whether the ransom is paid or not, be aware that attackers will always try to extract useful data from a compromised machine. When a sensitive machine data has been compromised, it might include usernames & passwords for internal or web resources, payment information, contact email addresses, and more.
List of Ransomware Attacks in 2020
With organisations across the Globe turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic, an Ransomware attacks has never been a worse time to suffer.
And the bad news is that unsettled employees, many of whom are asked to work from home, and depleted workforce mean an increased likelihood of an incident happening.
Check out the complete list of Ransomware attacks in 2020 here:
Ransomware Attacks in January 2020
- Travelex, a major international foreign currency exchange, has confirmed that it has suspended certain services after a malware hit.
- Hackers are demanding that Richmond Community Schools pay $10,000 in Bitcoin because of a hacking incident that happened on their server.
- eHealth records of Saskatchewan being held hostage by cyber criminals.
- Bartlett Public Library District, IL, Ransomware-Disabled Computers.
- Enloe Medical Center rescheduled elective procedures after its facilities were shut down.
- Anchorage-based by dentistry notified patients following Ransomware attacks.
- Patients of The Center for Facial Restoration in Miramar, Fla, confirmed receiving ransom demands from a cybercriminal who threatens to disclose their public information, if they don't pay the money.
- The City of Dawson Creek says that in an apparent Ransomware attack, its computer systems were hacked.
- BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The Panama-Buena Vista School District said teachers won't be able to get report cards on time due to Ransomware attacks.
- Colonie, New York, operates on backups after cyber criminals lock up computer network.
- In Warren, New Jersey, Temple Har Shalom had its network hacked by the actors behind the Sodinokibi Ransomware, who encrypted several machines on the network.
- Oman United Insurance Co SAOG, one of the country's largest insurers has revealed a "Ransomware attacks" against the company's data centre.
Ransomware Attacks in February 2020
- Belvidere City Hall - Local Government entity fell victim to a cyber-attack that for a few days denied employees access to their computers.
- Ransomware has infected the computer systems of the city of Racine.
- The University of Maastricht has paid the hackers who inflicted an Ransomware attacks on the university a Bitcoin Ransom of US$ 220,000.
- Allegheny Intermediate Unit has warned its workers because of a malware attack on its data network but said there is no initial proof that the attacker has accessed confidential data.
- North Miami Beach suffered from Ransomware attack.
- Grundy County Court impacted with cybersecurity violation.
- Ransomware cripples the operating infrastructure in Havre Public Schools.
- Mississippi Center for Legal Services and Rural Legal Services in North Mississippi Struck by Ryuk Ransomware.
- MA-based paediatric doctors’ organisation hit by Ransomware.
- Nacogdoches ISD consults Garrison city after attack by Ransomware.
- The Port Lavaca City Hall’s server was recently hit by Ryuk Ransomware that apparently entered through the email system.
- Redcar and Cleveland council reeling after suspected attack by Ransomware.
- Toll admits that some customers have been affected almost three weeks after Ransomware attack.
- The Central Kansas Orthopaedic Group, attacked by Ransomware, refused to pay ransom and was restored from backups.
- Albanian accounting company BST struck by Maze Ransomware.
- Maroof International Islamabad Hospital infected with massive Ransomware attack.
- Butler County Community College recovering from attack by Ransomware.
- South Adams schools targeted with Ransomware in Indiana.
- Wayne city hit by cyber-attack.
- FBI investigating Jackson Public Schools after suspected Ransomware attack.
- Students at IIT Madras fear in the midst of a Ransomware assault for their personal data.
- Washington's Moses Lake School District offline for two weeks after receiving phishing email loaded with Ransomware.
- Grayson Co. offline systems due to attack by Ransomware.
- Gadsden ISD, New Mexico, hit second time in a year by Ransomware.
- NY-based Jordan Health shuts down its systems after Ransomware infection.
Ransomware attacks in March 2020
- After a failed attempt to disable the company's computer systems, the Maze ransomware group published personal and medical details of thousands of former patients of a London-based medical research firm
- Texas bank was attacked with DoppelPaymer ransomware
- Ransomware virus discovered in government network of P.E.I.
- Simon Fraser University of Canada hit by a ransomware attack, resulting in data breach
- A ransomware attack has hit legal services giant Epiq Global.
- Four Queens Hotel and Casino and Binion's Casino out of action in a suspected attack against ransomware
- Spartanburg School District One's network of computers struck by ransomware attack
- Fort Worth ISD Hacked, Hit by Ransomware Attacks, Joining Other Texas Schools
- A multinational company with a Perth office has been targeted by hackers
- Ransomware attacks public health department in Illinois in the midst of coronavirus scare
- Randleman Eye Center claims certain files have been encrypted in cyber attack
- Officials from Durham town and county said 80 servers were quickly taken offline to contain a Ryuk malware attack
- Urgent care walk-ins locked down in Texas and Florida after suspected ransomware attack
- Houlton, ME, ransomware-hit police force again
- Finastra shuts down key systems under suspected attack by ransomware
- Police investigate Jamaica National Party ransomware incident
- Ameren Missouri equipment supplier targeted in attack by Ransomware
- Bluffton Township Fire District devices from South Carolina assault with ransomware
- Ransomware hit medical and military contractor Kimchuk
Ransomware attacks in April 2020
- Zaha Hadid Architects are being held to ransom by cyber crooks
- COVID-19 testing facility 10x Genomics struck by ransomware
- Brandywine Urology Consultants notifies ransomware attack patients in Delaware
- Brandywine Counselling and Community Services are also hit by ransomware
- Ransomware attacks lock 2 law firms from computer systems in Manitoba
- Portuguese energy giant Energias de Portugal hit with ransomware
- A Ransomware attack shut down Olean Municipal Building computers
- Torrance, CA, ransomware attack systems taken offline
- Danish Agro's computer systems are targeted by ransomware
- Internal confidential documents belonging to some of the world's biggest aerospace companies have been stolen and leaked online from an industrial contractor.
- Milwaukee-based provider of 'Smart' parking meters had data stolen during ransomware attack
Ransomware attacks in May 2020
- Tom Tugendhat, MP for Malling and Tonbridge, says he was hacked
- Danger Zone! Brit supercomputer work ARCHER's cyber-attack authentication nodes, administrators reset passwords and SSH keys
- Hackers steal information about up to 100,000 people at Interserve
- EasyJet cyber-attack affects 9 million people
- The zero-day vulnerability in the Estonian email service Mail.ee has been exploited by government-sponsored hackers and compromised the accounts of many dignitaries
- Spear-phishing campaign threaten executives at more than 150 companies
- Indonesia's Tokopedia begins the test after 91 million users have reportedly leaked data
- Software hackers steal £2.4m from Constable art sales
- GoDaddy notifies users of hosting accounts with breach
- French flooring company Tarkett has confirmed it has been hit by a cyber-attack
- According to an email sent by Superintendent Dr. Ben Drati, a student in the Santa Monica – Malibu Unified School District accessed the school's email late Friday evening
- BJC HealthCare, based in St. Louis, announced on May 5 a violation of an employee email which may have revealed patient details
- Students, experts call for clarification after 'highly damaging' cyber-attack at York University
- Hacker sells 22 million accounts of Unacademy users after data breach
- Russian Hackers accessed Emails from the Constituency Office of Merkel: Der Spiegel
- Law firm that represents Lady Gaga, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Others experience huge breach of data
- Newly attacked coronavirus drug maker Gilead-reports of Iran-linked hackers
- Drug maker Gilead, recently targeted by Iran-linked hackers
- Infringement of U.S. data Marshals Service exposed current and former prisoners' personal information
- Hackers sell HomeChef, ChatBooks and Chronicle Stolen User Data
- HEPACO, LLC Notifies of Data Privacy Incident
- WeLeakData.com target hackers in ironic cyber assault
- Minnesota Star Tribune says its website has been hacked to log in database
- Palm Beach County School District has red-faced after a 10-year-old hacked
- Wright County alerts data breach residents involving county employees
- Data information about more than 12,000 individuals leaked after Nikkei undergoes cyber-attack
- Hackers hit the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world
- Israel behind the cyber-attack in Iran's port that triggered 'complete disarray'
- Hacker leaks 40 million user records from Wishbone famous app
- Cyber-attack at Milan's San Raffaele hospital
- Indonesia reveals data breaches of over two million voters
- Online learning site EduCBA exposes data breach after hack
- Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools e-mail Rick-Rollers hacked
- Client Grabs Trojanised Discord Passwords and User Tokens
- Hackers Expose Gaping Holes in IT Programs in North Macedonia
- Infringement of Arbonne MLM data reveals user passwords, personal details
- Japanese telecommunications giant NTT claims hackers infiltrated their internal network and stole consumer data on 621.
- Minneapolis City Infrastructure Cyber-Attack briefly
- Data Breach throws out four million users of the Dating App
- Students and children at risk after stolen Mathway credentials
Ransomware Attacks in June 2020
- Fears of Hockley GP surgery patient files hacked-urgent probe launched
- The UK website of Avon is down a week after a cyber-attack
- Hacker leaks dark web hosting database
- Hackers have access to data from Universities in Nigeria and Kenya
- Amtrak resets customer passwords following data breach at Guest Rewards
- Duluth student warned school district about breach of security
- Kentucky Health Plan for Employees hit by a couple of cyber-attacks
- CPA Canada discloses data breaches involving 329,000 individuals
- Some of the patients at the University of Utah Health are being notified that a recent email security breach may have compromised their private information.
- San Francisco Workers' Pension Scheme says a contractor has been compromised
- College portal in San Beda hacked, with thousands of personal data stolen
- Everett & Hurite Ophthalmic Association discloses protected health information incident
- Phishing Attack Hits Task Force on German Coronavirus
- Honda probes suspected cyber-attack following factories hit by network failure
- City information systems in Florence hit by cyber-attack
- Hackers violated A1 Telekom, Austria's largest ISP
- MU Health Care suffered a data breach involving patient details
- Cano health tells its patients about an incident that may have compromised some confidential details
- Privnote.com has been impersonated in the phishing attack for a year
- Portal for Far Eastern University in the Philippines hacked
- China launches cyber-attacks after India MASSACRE on government websites and banks
- Mid-Michigan College data breach endangers up to 16,000 personal data
- 'BlueLeaks' Reveals Hundreds of Police Department Files
- CHI St. Luke’s Health – Memorial Lufkin-Notification of data breach
- Cyber-attacked Australian government
- Data stolen from a consulting firm in Silicon Valley offered for sale on a hacker forum
- A major live events manufacturing firm has disclosed a data breach affecting its employees' personal and financial information.
- Personal data of 350,000 + social media influencers and consumers compromised
- Student email list compromised at Jamesville-DeWitt High School; explicit messages sent
- Hackers breach E27, want "donation" to report vulnerability
- Data leak reveals Maine's classified police intelligence agency’s activities
- Brazilian federal police investigate leakage of Presidential data
- Cyber-hackers target Life Healthcare in South Africa
Ransomware Attacks in July 2020
- Blackbaud hack: More than 20 colleges and charities in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada have confirmed their victims of a cyber-attack
- The Labour party humiliates data breach as a large amount of sensitive information stolen
- The names and numbers of 56,000 individuals using CNY Works jobs services have been potentially compromised in a cyber-attack
- Turkey: KVKK reveals that the Doctor's office has suffered data breach
- Orange S.A., French telecommunication service was attacked by a data-stolen ransomware attack.
- Argentinian telecommunications reportedly struck by crypto ransomware
- Argentinian telecommunications reportedly struck by crypto ransomware
- Cooke County in Texas with REvil ransomware apparently struck by gang
- 47,754 Individuals hit by Ransomware attack from Lorien Health Services
- After ransomware attack, Garmin services and production go down
- Athens ISD pays ransom for school data releases
- Canadian managed service provider Pivot Technology Solutions, Inc. reveals assault on ransomware
Ransomware Attacks in August 2020
- British dental association hack: details of employees leaked on the Dark Web
- A foreign cyber-attack has targeted ASX-listed aged care provider Regis
- Canon has been subjected to a ransomware attack affecting various services, including Canon 's account, Microsoft Staff, the US website and other internal applications
- After a small Colorado town paid a ransom to cyber-attackers, the rest of the state is worried
- In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic the DoppelPaymer gang launched a ransomware assault on ventilator maker Boyce Technologies.
- Atlanta doesn't seem a safe location for orthopaedic patient data protection
- IVC Hit with Ransomware Attack; Effect on Multiple Systems and Remain Offline
- The maker of Jack Daniel was the victim of the apparent assault on Ransomware
- Medical debt collection business R1 RCM targeted in attack by Ransomware
- Ponca City Schools said it was working with the FBI and reconstructing the lost data after hackers attacked the district's network over the weekend.
- A new ransomware group says a billion-dollar corporation based in Toronto is going to be one of the first victims of a new ransomware group called DarkSide.
- Customers complain about delays after ransomware attack on Canpar Express delivery business
- Hackers want money to unlock files for Haywood County school district
- Weeks ago, Ventura Orthopedics hit by ransomware; some patient data dumped
- Gosnell schools hit with assault by ransomware
- The Rialto Unified School District in San Bernardino County was forced to briefly discontinue virtual training after a malware attack hit its infrastructure.
- Valley Health System recovering from attack with ransomware and improving patient treatment
- Selma Unified School District tells hackers have hit it.
- Greenville Technical College does not say any personal data that is compromised by the ransomware incident
- Already in the middle of a crisis, ransomware has targeted a Houston hospital
- Rocky Mount faces cyber-attack; investigation to determine if personal data is stolen
- Amphastar Pharmaceuticals discovers that hackers used ransomware attack to exfiltrate employee data
- Carnival cruise operator hit by ransomware
Ransomware Attacks in September 2020
- A cyber-attack has struck Newcastle University, which is expected to take "a number of weeks" to sort out.
- According to a letter sent to parents by Superintendent Jeffrey Schoonover, Somerset Berkley Regional High School was the target of a ransomware attack.
- The official immigration agency of Argentina, Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, has suffered a ransomware attack by Netwalker that has temporarily prevented border crossings into and out of the country.
- K-Electric, the sole supplier of electricity for Karachi, Pakistan, has experienced a ransomware attack by Netwalker that has resulted in billing and online services being disrupted.
- On Wednesday, the director of Saraburi Hospital reported that ransomware had attacked the hospital computer system, but said no demand for money was issued.
- NorthShore University HealthSystem said about 348,000 people's personal details might have been revealed earlier this year in a violation involving one of the suppliers of the health system.
- Owing to a ransomware attack, SegurCaixa Adeslas triggers its contingency plan
- A Netwalker ransomware attack has hit Equinix, a data centre and colocation giant, where threat actors are demanding $4.5 million for a decryptor and to prevent stolen data from being released.
- CA Enloe Medical Center notifies patients after an incident with Blackbaud ransomware
- Virginia Fairfax County Public Schools acknowledges cyber attack
- One of the largest US IT staffing firms, Artech Information Systems, has revealed a data breach caused by a ransomware attack.
- Roper St. Francis sends an alert of data breach security to nearly 93K patients
- Seychelles' Development Bank struck by ransomware attack
- Security area of Gelderland affected by ransomware attack
- After a ransomware operation leaked their stolen data, University Hospital New Jersey (UHNJ) suffered a huge 48,000 document data breach.
- New Jersey and California school join the ransomware victims list
- Jekyll Island Authority was the victim of a ransomware attack last week, which has since been largely tackled.
- Floral Park-Bellerose school district struck by ransomware attack
- During a ransomware attack on Duesseldorf University Hospital, a woman in Germany died in what may be the first death specifically related to a hospital cyberattack.
- Regulatory agency for Ontario nurses investigating 'cybersecurity incident'
- NC: Ransomware hit Guilford Technical Community College
- Anglicare Sydney is held to ransom confidential data stolen from computer system
- Leading U.S. IPG Photonics laser developer hit with ransomware
- 540,000 sports referees noted in a failed ransomware attack
- Ransomware targeted government software provider Tyler Technologies
- UHS hospitals hit by country wide Ryuk ransomware attack
- CMA CGM has now reported that it was hit with a ransomware attack after initially reporting that the company's booking system was disabled by "an internal IT infrastructure problem."
“We will update you soon on the ransomware attacks in October
2020”
The only way to protect what you’ve worked hard to build is to be vigilant when it comes to cybersecurity. If you’d like to know more about how your business can benefit from managed services, just give us a call, we are here to help.
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