Privacy Policy | A Texas company that sells software that cities and states use to display results on election night was hit by ransomware last week, the latest of nearly a thousand such attacks over the past year against small towns, big cities and the contractors who run their voting systems. You agree to receive updates, alerts, and promotions from the CBS family of companies - including ZDNet’s Tech Update Today and ZDNet Announcement newsletters. “Russia’s cybercriminals are treated as a national asset who provide the regime free access to victims of ransomware and financial crime. “Sitting officials and candidates should use the absolute greatest amount of restraint and caution if they are considering publicly calling the validity of an upcoming election into question,” the report said, noting that doing so would only be “exacerbating the already damaging messaging efforts of foreign intelligence services.”. Pleasant, the London borough of Hackney, International law firm Seyfarth Shaw,  and an attack on Barnes & Noble that caused them to shut down the service powering Nook e-Readers.

Last week, a hack that bore signs of a ransomware attack debilitated the computer systems of one of the largest hospital chains in the US, taking computer systems offline and delaying procedures at more than 250 hospitals.

With only 37 days before the election, federal investigators still do not have a clear picture of whether the ransomware attacks clobbering American networks are purely criminal acts, seeking a quick payday, or Trojan horses for more nefarious Russian interference. US imposes sanctions against Russia's Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (CNIIHM). You also agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge the data collection and usage practices outlined in our Privacy Policy. It's something that cyber criminals have been capitalising on despite the changing working circumstances with more people working remotely during 2020, with Bitdefender's Mid-Year Threat Landscape Report 2020 claiming a 715% year-on-year increase in detected – and blocked – ransomware attacks. The Russians tried this, and almost got away with it, in Ukraine’s presidential election six years ago. You will also receive a complimentary subscription to the ZDNet's Tech Update Today and ZDNet Announcement newsletters. Ad Choice | This week we learned that government software provider Tyler Technologies paid a ransom to obtain a decryptor for their attack. But then some of Tyler’s clients — the company would not say which ones — saw outsiders trying to gain access to their systems on Friday night, raising fears that the attackers might be out for something more than just a quick profit. Should an attack be well-timed enough to make it difficult to count votes or certify tallies, it would add to the uncertainty — just what the Russians, and perhaps Mr. Trump himself, are seeking. existing We also learned about attacks against the Crytek and Ubisoft, City of Mt. ... Phishing groups are collecting user data, email and banking passwords via fake voter registration forms. Windows 10: This is what your new 'Meet Now' taskbar button does, explains Microsoft.