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The SamSam ransomware has reportedly collected over US$5.9mil (RM23.9mil) in payout so far, says security software firm Sophos. First reported in late 2015, the ransomware is known for targeting medium to large public sector organisations in healthcare, education and government. However, the recent study states that this only makes up 50% of the total number of identified victims, and the rest, it claims, comprises "a private sector that has remained uncharacteristically quiet about the attacks"....

Cisco said Thursday it will buy cybersecurity company Duo Security for $2.35 billion in cash and stock. Cisco's stock was down 1 percent on the news. Duo Security is a private company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company provides cloud-based tools to prevent security breaches on devices, Cisco said in its announcement. The deal is expected to close by the end of Cisco's fiscal 2019. It's Cisco's biggest acquisition since the $3.7 billion deal for...

A borough and a town in Alaska have been hit by a devastating ransomware attack, forcing employees to completely forego computers and go back to typewriters and hand receipts. Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su), a borough in the Anchorage Metropolitan Statistical Area, has declared disaster on Tuesday after being hit by several different strains of malware that crippled its computer infrastructure, including computers, servers, telephones and email exchange. The city of Valdez, Alaska, has also been hit by the malware attack. "The...

Over 140 apps on the Google Play store have been discovered to contain malicious Windows executable files. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks found that among the infected apps, several had more than 1,000 installations and carried 4-star ratings. View Full Story ORIGINAL SOURCE: BetaNews

A malware sample that had code in all the wrong places piqued Maddie Stone's curiosity. So she dug into the sample and emerged many hours later with a description of a complex anti-analysis library that threat actors are using to, among other things, give new life to old threats. View Full Story ORIGINAL SOURCE: Dark Reading

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has dispensed advice aimed at securing Ubuntu installs and followed it up with help for Dixons customers. View Full Story ORIGINAL SOURCE: The Register

A school in New Zealand is being held to ransom by a hacker who has demanded thousands of dollars. Teachers at Hawera High School, on the country's North Island, turned their computers on earlier this week to see a message demanding US$5,000 (£3,800). View Full Story ORIGINAL SOURCE: Sky News

Social media site Reddit has suffered a data breach, but has refused to disclose its scale. The site said it discovered in June that hackers compromised several employees' accounts to gain access to databases and logs. View Full Story ORIGINAL SOURCE: BBC

Three people associated with the hacking group FIN7, also known as Carbanak, have been arrested in Europe and are in custody, the United States said in a court filing. The three, Fedir Hladyr, Dmytro Fedorov and Andrii Kolpakov, were arrested in Europe between January and June of this year, the court filing said. Hladyr is in U.S. custody, and U.S. authorities are seeking extradition of the other two. View Full Story ORIGINAL SOURCE: Reuters

The enterprise-focused SamSam ransomware has earned its handlers an estimated $5.9m (£4.5m) since it first appeared in the wild in December 2015. Security software firm Sophos worked with Neutrino to arrive at the estimate, which is based on tracking Bitcoin addresses supplied on ransom notes and sample files. View Full Story ORIGINAL SOURCE: The Register