Towerwall's InfoSec Blog

Ransomware-as-a-service, help desks, third parties -- all point to a mature yet illegal enterprise undergoing serious growth. Here are tips to protect yourself and your company. Ransomware is big business. Over the last few years we've observed the steady rise of ransomware, with some trepidation. It is fast becoming a multi-billion dollar business, and it's getting surprisingly sophisticated. The ransomware industry is continually innovating, offering cybercriminals new technology, variousfalse

Online security trends continue to evolve. This year, online extortion will become more prevalent. We also expect that at least one consumer-grade IoT smart device failure will be lethal. Ransomware will make further inroads, since the majority go unreported. China will drive mobile malware growth to 20M, and cybercrime legislation will take a significant step towards becoming a truly global movement. Here are five information security trends on track for the New Year:

10. Everything is connected. As the Internet of Things adds more and more devices to our networks, it creates more doors and windows for cyber criminals. Keep them locked.

A "ransomware" segment was recently on NBC's Today featuring our security partner Sophos. To learn more about ransomware. click the thumbnail below:

Anthem, the nation's second-largest health insurance company, is the latest target of a security breach. Eighty million customers, including the company's own CEO, are at risk of having their personal information stolen. VPC SAN FRANCISCO - As many as 80 million customers of the nation's second-largest health insurance company, Anthem Inc., have had their account information stolen, the company said in a statement. "Anthem was the target of a very sophisticated external cyber-attack," Anthemfalse

When an international law enforcement action earlier this month knocked out theGameover botnet, one happy consequence was the takedown of the servers that the CryptoLocker ransomware needed in order to do its dirty work. Well, any celebration over CryptoLocker’s demise is certainly premature - encrypting ransomware is alive and well. With many victims paying up, ransomware is a lucrative business for the crooks, and CryptoLocker has inspired copycats who want in on the loot.

A new ransomware program, known as Cryptolocker, was identified recently. Ransomware can freeze your computer and ask you to pay a fee, but this malicious ransomware does more than just that. (You can use a anti-virus tool to remove the virus.) Cryptolocker is different from other ransomware due to the fact that it allows your computer and software to run while your personal files, such as documents, spreadsheets, and images, are encrypted. The only copy of the decryption key is then saved ontofalse

And it keeps getting worse… A widespread outbreak of a sneaky, file-encrypting piece of ransomware called Cryptolocker has many people talking. One very important question raised by Cryptolocker’s success to date: Should you ever pay a ransom to a cybercriminal? Sophos security expert James Lyne, head of global security research at Sophos, went on cable network CNBC to explain how the criminal gang behind Cryptolocker is demanding a ransom in return for unlocking a victim’s files. In the videofalse

The headline reads, “FBI warns of new malware targeting bank accounts," but it could just as well say, “More new victims born from opening emails.” From the simple act of opening an email and clicking on an attachment, the victim's username and password to their bank accounts are stolen by a process called keylogging, where the info is presto, logged directly from your very fingers as you type in your credentials. What's scary is that bogus emails can appear to come from someone you know is afalse