CYBERSECURITY

First detected in January, GandCrab has been deemed one of the most aggressive forms of ransomware this year.

"Whether they are working on behalf of the government or they're doing it on their own accord with plans to sell the information to a third party, we have no idea," Symantec said.

This isn't the first time US federal government has suffered a major data breach affecting military and defense personnel in recent years.

A 37-year-old Welshman has been jailed for 10 months after a court found him guilty of five offences relating to a cyber attack on a former company.

Researchers have described RedDrop as "one of the most sophisticated pieces of Android malware that we have seen in broad distribution".

"This is the first time we have seen a modified Mirai capable of DDOS attacks as well as setting up proxy servers on vulnerable IoT devices," Fortinet researchers said.

The malware has been designed to make the infected system really slow and also shut down any other malware already in the system.

In July 2017, CoinDash lost millions of dollars worth of Ethereum just three minutes into its ICO.

NanoCore came with an array of dubious functions including keylogging that allowed hackers to record every keystroke made and stealthily activate victims' webcams to spy on them.

The intrusion comes as police departments, government organizations and school districts are increasingly targeted by online pranksters and opportunistic hackers.

In 2015 and 2016, the then 15-year-old Kane Gamble attempted to hack the computers of several senior US government officials.

Officials believe the Olympics cyberattack was in retaliation to the International Olympic Committee's decision to ban Russia over the state-sponsored doping scandal.

From North Korean hacking groups to a JPMorgan Chase "technical" glitch affecting multiple online banking customers, here are the top cyber-related news stories of the week.

Multiple irked customers also took to Twitter and Reddit to complain about the glitch that seemed to affect users of both the Chase.com website and the bank's mobile app.

"I'm so impressed with what they've done here," security expert Troy Hunt tweeted.

The spyware steals victims' photos, contacts, call logs and can also spy on conversations when the infected device is within range.

Votiro's findings come as hackers continue to develop new, clever ways to exploit victims and earn cryptocurrency often by exploiting popular platforms.

The seemingly secure document, however, actually contains the Adwind malware that is capable of exfiltrating data from the infected computer.

BitFunder founder Jon Montroll repeatedly lied to the Securities Exchange Commission to cover up a hack that saw the theft of over 6,000 bitcoins.

Despite being available for download for years, none of the antivirus engines are able to detect it as malicious.

The incident comes as cryptojacking heists become increasingly common and sophisticated alongside the rise and popularity of cryptocurrency.

"We believe this is the next team to watch," FireEye's director of intelligence analysis John Hultquist said.

Authorities said thousands have already fallen victim to the scheme described as a "new twist on an old scam".

The finding immediately triggered fierce uproar with many saying "there is absolutely no justification" for including a password stealer in a flight simulation add-on.

Hackers have been found targeting several vulnerabilities in different servers to secretly install cryptomining software and generate digital currencies using victims' resources.

Hackers have targeted a slew of banks worldwide in recent years to gain illegal access to the Swift network and initiate fraudulent money transfers.

"We take the security of personally identifiable information very seriously," California's Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

For their roles in what US prosecutors have called "one of the largest" known cybercrime schemes, two Russian nationals were handed lengthy prison terms this week.

GPU manufacturers are scrambling to deal with rapidly rising demand for graphics cards.