{"id":282542,"date":"2017-01-07T08:32:28","date_gmt":"2017-01-07T08:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=282542"},"modified":"2017-01-07T08:32:28","modified_gmt":"2017-01-07T08:32:28","slug":"web-databases-hit-in-ransom-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/01\/web-databases-hit-in-ransom-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Web databases hit in ransom attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"
Thousands of web-based databases have been deleted by cyberthieves seeking a ransom to restore the data.<\/p>\n
Gigabytes of medical, payroll and other data held in MongoDB databases have been taken by attackers, say security researchers.<\/p>\n
The systems were vulnerable to attack because their administrators accidentally left them easily accessible via the internet.<\/p>\n
Attackers are seeking small amounts of bitcoins as payment to restore data.<\/p>\n
The alarm about hackers targeting the vulnerable databases was raised by Victor Gevers – an ethical hacker who currently works for the Dutch government.<\/p>\n
Mr Gevers said the attacks started before Christmas but had accelerated once the holiday period was over. Hackers were using automated scanning tools scouring the net for the telltale signature of unsecured MongoDB systems, he said.<\/p>\n
Requests flooding in<\/strong><\/p>\n Once they identified potential victims, attackers checked the data to see if it had any value and, if it did, deleted it and replaced it with a ransom note.<\/p>\n Mr Gevers said he had been racing to warn administrators of vulnerable systems to turn off net access to avoid falling victim.<\/p>\n “I am being flooded with requests for help,” he said, adding that the number of systems hit by attackers had now exceeded 5000. Victims include hospitals, small businesses and educational institutions.<\/p>\n