Three hospitals in Alabama were closed to all but critical patients Wednesday after a ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. The form of ransomware used in the attack on the hospitals, all run by a nonprofit firm called DCH Health System, is not currently known. “A criminal is limiting our ability to use our computer systems ...

A new botnet in the wild has been found, and it’s notable for one reason: It’s really cheap to operate. Dubbed MasterMana by security researchers at Prevailion Inc. today, the botnet, believed to have been operating since December 2018, is described as a financial scam. Using infected systems in a botnet configuration, MasterMana seeks out other ...

Internet of things security startup ReFirm Labs Inc. said today it has raised $2 million in an early-stage funding to accelerate new product development and hire more staff. The Pre-A round was led by DataTribe and New Dominion Angels and included TEDCO and Tysons Angel Investors. Founded in 2017 by former U.S. National Security Agency cybersecurity operators, ...

Ripple Labs Inc.’s investment subsidiary Xpring is moving into new territory today with the launch of the Xpring Platform, a new service designed to make moving money across the blockchain easier. The Xpring Developer platform allows any developer to integrate payments into their application whether currencies or cryptocurrencies, the latter with initial support for Ripple ...

The head of a bitcoin escrow service has been indicted for fraud over allegations that he stole $7 million from two customers for bitcoin purchases that never happened. Jon Barry Thomas, the owner of two firms, Volantis Escrow Platform LLC and Volantis Market Making LCC, is alleged to have stolen the money while making false promises to purchase ...

A security vulnerability found in Cisco Systems Inc.’s Webex and Zoom Video Communications Inc. videoconferencing platforms can allow an attacker to enumerate or list and view active meetings that are not protected by passwords. Discovered by security researchers at Cequence Security Inc., the vulnerability, dubbed “Prying-Eye,” involves launching an enumeration attack, a form of attack ...

Major partners in Facebook Inc.’s Libra cryptocurrency group including Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are considering withdrawing their support, according to an unconfirmed report published today. The Wall Street Journal reported that the two main credit card providers along with “other financial partners” were reconsidering their involvement because of the backlash against the proposed cryptocurrency by ...

A former Yahoo Inc. employee has pleaded guilty to hacking into more than 6,000 Yahoo personal accounts as well as gaining access to Google LLC, Facebook Inc. and iCloud accounts in search of sexual images and video. Reyes Daniel Ruiz, 34, from Tracy, California, worked as a reliability engineer at Yahoo for more than 10 ...

Passwordless security startup HYPR Corp. today said it has raised $18.3 million in new funding to help fuel growth, accelerate product delivery and expand its customer operations. The Series B round was led by Comcast Ventures and included .406 Ventures, RRE Ventures, Allen & Co, Triphammer Ventures, Mastercard and Samsung NEXT. As part of the deal, Dave Zilberman, ...

The details of 218 million users of “Words with Friends,” a popular social game made by Zynga Inc., have allegedly been stolen by a Pakistani hacker. Gnosticplayers, the same hacker behind the theft of 139 million user records from Canva Pty. Ltd. in May and 93 million user records for a variety of sites in March, ...