- August and September showed a sharp increase in ransomware activity, with those months accounting for 26% and 18% of reported ransomware incidents in the last half year, respectively.
- Akira, Qilin, and INC Ransomware represented 65%
Akira Ransomware Continues to Hit Hard
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
A November 13, 2025, a Cybersecurity Advisory warned that new activity by the Akira ransomware variant “presents an imminent threat to critical infrastructure.” The Advisory was jointly issued by four U.S. agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, and the Department of…
Privacy Tip #463 – How a Weak Password Can Take a Whole Company Down
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
Passwords are the key to your digital kingdom. Passwords, also known as “credentials,” provide the user with access to all information and data that the user has been authorized to access, whether in a personal or professional capacity. It is one thing to have a weak password for your personal accounts, but quite another to…
Akira Still Using SonicWall Devices for Attacks
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
Although SonicWall has provided a patch for a vulnerability for its VPN affecting its Gen5, Gen6, and Gen7 firewall appliances (which allowed threat actors unauthorized access to SonicWall appliances), Rapid7 has reported that “an Akira ransomware campaign [recently] kicked off targeting SonicWall devices.” SonicWall has provided an advisory to customers related to the campaign, which…
Industrial Sector Prime Target of Ransomware Attacks in Q2
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
Dragos issued its Industrial Ransomware Analysis for Q2 on August 14, 2024. The analysis shows that ransomware attacks significantly increased in Q2, with many ransomware groups disrupted by law enforcement rebranding themselves into new groups. For instance, BlackCat became inactive in March 2024 after being targeted by law enforcement in late 2023 but “recalibrated their…
HC3 Warns Healthcare Organizations about Akira Ransomware Group
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity
The Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) recently warned the health care sector about the Akira ransomware group that has been hitting health care organizations since May of 2023. In an Analyst Note dated February 7, 2024, HC3 stated that although Akira is a relatively new ransomware group, it has attacked at least 81 organizations…