Around $1.9 billion worth of digital tokens were stolen by hackers from the beginning of the year through July, according to blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis. This is up 58 percent from the same time last year, as decentralized cryptocurrency DiFi protocols have become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. DeFi protocols, with cross-chain bridges in particular, are used…

The remote work era brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has made it even easier for criminals to execute payment fraud attacks. For most companies, it’s become a matter of when they’ll face a fraud attack—not if. New defenses are needed, because the nature of cybercrime is changing. For many years, bad actors focused on…

Microsoft Corp.’s new security chief, Charlie Bell, emphasized the importance of solving cyberattacks by embracing cloud, the Wall Street Journal reports. Microsoft has built a $15 billion business and one of the world’s most enormous private cyber armies to counter cyberattacks. WSJ notes that U.S. banks flagged nearly $600 million in ransomware payments during the first…

Orange County has rolled out a new campaign to fight against increasing cybercrimes and other criminal activities—a localized version of the national “If You See Something, Say Something” anti-terrorism initiative. The SafeOC initiative is based on the idea that an alert public can play a critical role in keeping Orange County safe, according to social…

Canada’s cybersecurity agency’s acknowledgment that it is undertaking “foreign cyber operations” to actively disrupt cybercrime from across the world is significant because it shows Canada’s effort in fighting international cyber threats and transparency to the agency’s activities, experts say. Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE) said Monday that it has both the “active” (offensive) and defensive…

Canada’s cybersecurity agency’s acknowledgment that it is undertaking “foreign cyber operations” is significant as it shows the agency’s willingness to engage in activity that involves questions of authorization of operations in other jurisdictions, and is joining allies in actively deferring cyber threats. Christopher Parson, senior research associate at Citizen Lab, said on social media that…

Commentary In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged much of the globe. In mid-May 2021, the Republic of China (Taiwan) saw a sudden rise in case numbers. When Taiwan needed help the most, partners such as the United States, Japan, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland, as well as the COVAX Facility, a global allocation…

There is still no official word on the cause of a major cyberattack on Newfoundland and Labrador’s health-care system, but authorities have been in touch with officials from Ireland, which was hit with a ransomware attack earlier this year. Thomas Keenan, a professor at the University of Calgary who specializes in cyber security and high-tech…

WASHINGTON—Two suspected hackers accused of ransomware attacks resulting in 5,000 infections have been arrested as part of a global cybercrime crackdown, Europol announced Monday. The two, who were not identified by name, were arrested last week by Romanian authorities. Officials say the attacks, linked to the ransomware gang known as REvil, yielded about half a…

The U.S. State Department on Thursday announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of anyone with a key leadership position in DarkSide, a cybercrime organization the FBI has said is based in Russia. The FBI has said DarkSide was responsible for the May cyberattack targeting the…