The operators of the “RagnarLocker” ransomware began an advertising campaign on Facebook to further extort the victim of one of their recent attacks. This was in addition to posting the details of the attack to their dark website, “Ragnar_Locker Leaks”. Using ransomware extortion websites has become commonplace, but this bold approach of using social media advertisements to publicize a ransomware attack represents a shift in extortion tactics for a ransomware group. Among the competitive ransomware market, criminal groups have attempted to differentiate themselves. Most have developed new methods to coerce their victims, contributing to the unprecedented advancements in ransomware activity observed throughout 2020. These new extortion tactics indicate that innovation in this space is unlikely to cease as 2021 approaches.

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A cyber-security firm released a free decryptor for the popular and sophisticated “DarkSide” ransomware.

The cyber-security industry learned some valuable lessons during the unique and unprecedented year of 2020.

The notorious Automated Vending Cart (AVC) website Joker’s Stash allegedly displayed a notification that the site was seized by law-enforcement agencies.

SolarWinds confirmed that its network management system, Orion Platform, was exploited to conduct a highly sophisticated, manual supply-chain attack.

A global spearphishing campaign targeted organizations associated with a COVID-19 vaccine cold chain.

A threat actor recently hijacked a vulnerable WordPress website set up by a security researcher.

“CostaRicto” has become the fourth cyber-mercenary group to be discovered in 2020.

The North Korean cyber-threat group “Kimsuky” has caught the attention of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), having proved itself a significant advanced persistent threat.

The developers of the infamous “Maze” ransomware claimed to have permanently ceased operations.

After a short hiatus, the “Ryuk” ransomware variant is back with upgrades, including the ability to fully encrypt data in just five hours.

A ruthless, ever-evolving cyber-threat group, “FIN11”, has been discovered deploying “Clop”: ransomware that encrypts and exfiltrates data.

Advanced persistent threat groups linked to China and Iran have conducted cyber espionage through front companies, under the guise of legitimate technology services.

The source code of several operating systems (OS) developed by Microsoft has been published online, sparking public concerns about security.

Ransomware encrypted and disabled the systems of Universal Health Services (UHS) hospitals in the US this week, in yet another example of threat actors targeting the healthcare sector.

Ransomware attacks are increasingly targeting UK educational establishments, according to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Three state-linked threat groups have reportedly conducted cyber attacks aimed at the US Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns.

An operations security (OpSec) failure by the threat group “FIN7” led to an unintentional exposure of their new tools, campaigns, and underground affiliations.

A wave of extortion attacks has interrupted operations in the financial services and retail sectors with threats of distributed denial of service (DDoS) if ransom is not paid.

Remote workers have been falling victim to a voice-phishing (vishing) campaign that involves phone calls and custom phishing pages intended to solicit virtual private network (VPN) credentials.

Global technology firm Intel Corporation (Intel) confirmed a data leak after 20GB of its confidential proprietary data was made available online.