17/05/2021: Cybersecurity & Tech News Roundup

Colonial Pipeline's operations are now back to normal

The ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline had far reaching consequences - both up the East Coast of the US, and all the way to the white house. Not only did the attack on the 5,500 mile pipeline cause serious fuel shortages, it also led to emergency legislation being put in place by President Biden, and no doubt caused tensions to rise between the US and Russia - where the DarkSide hacking group who carried out the attack are said to reside.

Thankfully though, everything is back to normal - but it was no small task getting there by any means. Colonial Pipeline paid a whopping $5 million ransom in order to regain access to its systems, and those systems are now fully in operation. The organisation had this to say: "As we previously reported, Colonial Pipeline initiated the restart of pipeline operations at approximately 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 12. Since that time, we have returned the system to normal operations, delivering millions of gallons per hour to the markets we serve." Read more here.

Hacker group Avaddon claim responsibility for Acer Finance and AXA Asia's ransomware attacks

Ransomware gangs are really running rampant at the moment. Not only did DarkSide score a huge payday via Colonial Pipeline, but now Avaddon are trying their luck, attacking both Acer Finance in France and the Asian division of AXA simultaneously.

Avaddon has given Acer Finance 240 hours to co-operate, before they start leaking their corporate data online - sensitive info that they're claiming includes confidential details about clients and employees. Following that, they're also threatening a DDoS attack against the company, if they don't pay up.

As for AXA, just a week after the organisation vowed to never pay ransomware hackers in exchange for their stolen or encrypted data, Avaddon decided to challenge that statement. The hackers managed to successfully disrupt the company's IT operations in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines; they've claimed to have also taken three terabytes of data in total too. AXA are currently holding their nerve and have hired a forensic team to investigate the attack and hopefully find a way out of it, but only time will tell whether or not they buckle under the pressure and pay up. Read more here.

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