Ransomware

A third-party provider for credit unions failed to fix a long-patched vulnerability, according to a cybersecurity researcher who has studied the situation.

The cybercriminals said a new SEC rule required loan software company MeridianLink to report last week's breach, but the rule does not take effect until next month.

The market stayed open four extra hours to allow participants to reroute trades Thursday after an attack by cybercrime group Lockbit.

The new rules also expand the use of "proven protections," such as multifactor authentication, according to Adrienne Harris, superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services.

The bank suffered its third breach in three years, this time by virtue of a vulnerability in Progress Software's file-transfer system. But Flagstar is only one of many such victims.

In a Wednesday Congressional hearing, an assistant superintendent explained why her school district decided to pay a ransom to cyber criminals. It's a cautionary tale for banks, which are often targets.

Two federal agencies recently released a warning about a strain of ransomware called Snatch, which has adopted the successful tactics of other variants.

Ongoing disruptions and a reported ransom payment highlight the complexity of cybercrime networks and the pitfalls of paying ransoms.

The botnet of 700,000 computers — many in the U.S. — had assisted in major ransomware attacks, with the financial sector as its primary target.

The attack on AvidXchange, which the company said it learned about in early April, exposed its bank account numbers and some embarrassing security practices. It's part of a growing trend of data exfiltration attacks.