Saturday, July 10, 2021

Coming soon to an ATM near you? (Full instructions provided in this article?)

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/07/spike-in-chain-gang-destructive-attacks-on-atms/

Spike in “Chain Gang” Destructive Attacks on ATMs

Last summer, financial institutions throughout Texas started reporting a sudden increase in attacks involving well-orchestrated teams that would show up at night, use stolen trucks and heavy chains to rip Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) out of their foundations, and make off with the cash boxes inside. Now it appears the crime — known variously as “ATM smash-and-grab” or “chain gang” attacks — is rapidly increasing in other states.

From surveillance camera footage examined by fraud investigators, the perpetrators have followed the same playbook in each incident. The bad guys show up in the early morning hours with a truck or tractor that’s been stolen from a local construction site.

Then two or three masked men will pry the front covering from the ATM using crowbars, and attach heavy chains to the cash machine. The canisters of cash inside are exposed once the crooks pull the ATM’s safe door off using the stolen vehicle.

In nearly all cases, the perpetrators are done in less than five minutes.

Tracey Santor is the bond product manager for Travelers, which insures a large number of financial institutions against this type of crime. Santor said investigators questioning some of the suspects learned that the smash-and-grabs are used as a kind of initiation for would-be gang members.

One of the things they found out during the arrest was the people wanting to be in the gang were told they had to bring them $250,000 within a week,” Santor said. “And they were given instructions on how to do it. I’ve also heard of cases where the perpetrators put construction cones around the ATM so it looks to anyone passing by that they’re legitimately doing construction at the site.”





Not very serious, but clearly a way to show leadership that hackers can get to them.

https://gizmodo.com/hackers-derail-irans-train-system-post-supreme-leaders-1847260870

Hackers Derail Iran's Train System, Post Supreme Leader's Phone Number as Help Line

Cyberattacks reportedly disrupted Iran’s railway system on Friday, causing “unprecedented chaos” at stations throughout the country, according to state media.

The hackers, whoever they are, also reportedly trolled the nation’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, posting his phone number as “the number to call for information” on multiple train station message boards, Reuters reports. According to some Iranian outlets, the number, 64411, was displayed on screens in train stations and redirected to Ayatolla Khamenei’s office when dialed.

The railway’s website, local ticket offices, and cargo services have all apparently been affected, the news outlet reports.





Makes me wonder what Biden and Putin agreed on…

https://news.softpedia.com/news/cybercriminals-attacked-the-republican-national-committee-533488.shtml

Cybercriminals Attacked the RNC

According to a statement from Republican National Committee, cybercriminals gained access to the IT infrastructure of one of the committee's contractors, Synnex. Although the infrastructure was breached, no data was lost as a result of the cyberattack, says NPR.

If the alleged source of the attack (REvil) is confirmed, it will be the second major cyber attack launched by a Russian network against the United States in the last period. More than 200 U.S. organizations were affected by a massive ransomware cyberattack conducted by the REVil Russian cybercriminal gang over the weekend.





Is this the future?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-opens-cyberattack-defense-center-11625778530?mod=djemalertNEWS

New York City Opens Cyberattack Defense Center

New York City has become the first major American metropolitan area to open a real-time operational center to protect against cybersecurity threats, regional officials said.

Set in a lower Manhattan skyscraper, the center is staffed by a coalition of government agencies and private businesses, with 282 partners overall sharing intelligence on potential cyber threats. Its members range from the New York Police Department to Amazon.com Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. to the Federal Reserve Bank and several New York healthcare systems.

Until last week, the two-year effort known as New York City Cyber Critical Services and Infrastructure was completely virtual.





Another buzzword field of work for AI.

https://www.itproportal.com/features/content-management-and-artificial-intelligence-the-future-of-contentops/

Content management and Artificial Intelligence – the future of ContentOps

Artificial intelligence (AI) is eating the world, one boring, routine task at a time.

From navigation apps using AI to crunch a bunch of data at a super-fast speed to determine the best and fastest route from A to B, or automatic spam filters and categorizations that make email more manageable, AI is truly ubiquitous.

It was only a matter of time before AI applications in the content management space arose. And when it comes to content ops, the combination of content management and artificial intelligence is a great tool for giving workers back the time they need to perform more complex tasks that still require a human brain.





Free is good!

https://www.makeuseof.com/free-self-study-apps-for-life-long-learners-to-find-new-skills-courses/

5 Free Self Study Apps for Life-Long Learners to Find New Skills and Courses

Use these fantastic self-study resources to learn anything you want without spending a penny.



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