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Ransomware Infects Hosting Company; Decryption Costs A Million Dollars
A South Korean web hosting company called NAYANA has been the victim of what appears to be one of the largest, if not the largest ransomware attacks in the history of the internet. According to the digital security firm Trend Micro, the ransomware used in the attack is called Erebus, and successfully infected all of […]
Banking Trojan Trickbot Sets Sights On Paypal Users
If you’ve never heard of a banking Trojan called Dyre, then consider yourself lucky. When Russian officials stormed the headquarters of the company that created it, it was heralded as one of the biggest takedowns in recent hacking history. It ended the rapid ascent of one of the fastest growing NextGen banking Trojans in recent […]
Girl Scouts Add Cybersecurity Badge
The Girl Scouts are perhaps best known for their awesome cookies, but like their brother organization, the Boy Scouts, the girls in uniform do a lot more than just that. For the past 105 years, both organizations have been issuing merit badges for camping, survival skills and a wide range of outdoor activities. Recently, though, […]
Amazon Ends Its Unlimited Cloud Storage Tier
All good things must eventually come to an end, and finally, Amazon has bowed to external pressure. The company has just announced the end of their unlimited cloud storage tier. Users who currently enjoy unlimited storage via the Amazon Cloud will continue to enjoy those benefits until their current contract expires. At that point, they’ll […]
Ransomware Named Petya May Be Next Wannacry
After the global Wannacry attack and Microsoft’s emergency patch to close the loopholes that made it possible, you might have been lulled into thinking that a similar attack was no longer possible. Sadly, you would be incorrect in thinking this. As you read these words, a similar, and in some ways worse, form of ransomware […]
Buckle May Have Had Credit Cards Exposed For Six Months
Have you shopped at a clothing store called Buckle? If you were a patron of any of their 450+ stores during the period spanning from October 28, 2016 to April 14, 2017, then your credit card information has likely been compromised. According to a company spokesman, the data most likely at risk is as follows: […]
Even Google Can Get Hacked
Google has a rock-solid reputation and an almost uncanny ability to ward off hacking efforts, but even they aren’t infallible. Even they can be hacked, as a recent incident involving Google News has demonstrated. In the early morning hours of June 12, the news service was temporarily overrun, and all the leading news stories were […]
‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Shows Make TV Watching Interactive
It’s a trend that has been flitting at the edges of the entertainment industry for a few years now: the idea of interactive storytelling in TV and movies. The concept was born of deeply immersive video games in which the players drive the narrative, but getting that concept to translate well into TV/movie programming has […]
Majority Of Businesses Aren’t Prepared For IT Risks
Does your IT staff include personnel who are dedicated to compliance or cybersecurity? How confident are you that your team is prepared to take today’s security threats head on? How likely are you to be able to ward off a determined attack? If you don’t have dedicated staff for the positions mentioned above, and you’re […]
Can Your Car Be Hacked Just With A USB Stick?
Jay Turla has been a very busy man since purchasing his new Mazda vehicle. He’s been spending time researching hacks to his car’s infotainment system, and as with most other “smart” products on the market today, he’s finding the system incredibly easy to break into. He’s not alone. In fact, a whole online community has […]
A Visionary Approach to Your Security
The purpose of an IT partner isn’t just to fix something when it is broken, it is to keep your people working and your data secure. Astral moves beyond traditional managed services by addressing all the key areas of cybersecurity in today’s complex landscape.


