Top 5 cyber attacks in first quarter of 2021

Quick Heal Technologies has selected the top 5 cyber attacks that impacted the business and customers during the first quarter of 2021.
Cybersecurity for CSOs
Top five cyber-attacks

#1 SolarWinds Attack

The SolarWinds attack is considered to be among the worst cyber-espionage incidents ever suffered by the United States. Some of the biggest and most important organizations globally, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Government of the United Kingdom, the European Parliament, and Microsoft, were reportedly affected. The hacking group Cozy Bear, allegedly backed by Russia, was part of this supply-chain attack which involved more than 200 organizations worldwide.

#2 Attacks on India’s CoWIN app

As India aims to find its way out of the pandemic by accelerating the vaccination process, cybercriminals jump on the opportunity by misguiding and tricking users into downloading fake apps. In January, Quick Heal reported incidences of fake Aarogya Setu apps created by malware authors to plant malware into the end user’s phone. Now with vaccination being made eligible for the 18-44 population, there have been instances of fake CoWIN apps being used to lure users into downloading the app in the hope of getting vaccinated.

These attacks clearly demonstrate the importance of keeping your mobile phone safe from such threats. Quick Heal Mobile Security offers free protection for your Android phone against virus attacks, unwanted calls, and theft.

#3 Black Kingdom ransomware targets Microsoft Exchange servers

Black Kingdom ransomware attacked close to 1,500 Microsoft Exchange servers. Hafnium, a Chinese state-sponsored group, targeted a flaw in Microsoft Exchange servers that had not been updated with a patch. Files would be encrypted on compromised servers, and the attackers would demand a ransom of USD 10,000 in bitcoin.

#4 LinkedIn Phishing Scam

LinkedIn is one of the world’s most popular social networks, with 756 million members in more than 200 countries worldwide. This popularity has brought it in the crosshairs of attackers with the recent news of a massive data breach in the company with reports that scraped data of 500 million LinkedIn users were being sold online. Attackers were gaining access to this data by spear-phishing users by emailing them with fraudulent job offers and making them click on malicious links. These links would lead to malicious software or backdoors being downloaded into the victim’s systems.

#5 Cyber-attack on Air India

The data of millions of India’s airline customers, Air India, was compromised in one of the biggest cyber-attacks in 2021. Between August 2011 and February 2021, confidential information such as passport details, ticket information, and credit card data of more than 4.5 million customers was compromised. While the airline tried to reassure its customers by stating that credit card details had not been leaked, it urged its users to change their passwords.

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