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Daily Report: A Crusader Against a Severe, Previously Unseen Cyberattack
Just when you think that cybersecurity hacking cannot grow worse, it does.
Golan Ben-Oni found this out firsthand. Mr. Ben-Oni is the global chief information officer of IDT Corporation, a conglomerate in Newark, that was subjected in April to an attack using cyberweapons that had been stolen from the National Security Agency. It was like nothing he had ever seen.
The hackers locked up IDT data and demanded a ransom. That’s similar to WannaCry, a ransomware attack that struck hospitals and other organizations across the world in May. But the hacking that Mr. Ben-Oni experienced went a step further: The ransom demand was a smoke screen for a more invasive attack to steal employee credentials, information that would have allowed the hackers to roam freely through IDT’s systems.
All of this is chronicled in a gripping tale about Mr. Ben-Oni’s predicament by Nicole Perlroth, a technology reporter for The New York Times, who reported the previously unseen attack for the first time. Mr. Ben-Oni has continued to hunt for the intruders.
The worst news? He’s convinced that many other computer systems around the globe have been hit by the same kind of attack he saw. It’s just that the attacks weren’t detected or understood — which increases the risk.
“You can’t catch it, and it’s happening right under our noses,” Mr. Ben-Oni told Ms. Perlroth. “The world isn’t ready for this.”
A Guide to Digital Safety
A few simple changes can go a long way toward protecting yourself and your information online.
A data breach into your health information can leave you feeling helpless. But there are steps you can take to limit the potential harm.
Don’t know where to start? These easy-to-follow tips and best practices will keep you safe with minimal effort.
Your email address has become a digital bread crumb that companies can use to link your activity across sites. Here’s how you can limit this.
Protect your most sensitive accounts by creating unique passwords and adding extra layers of verification.
There are stronger methods of two-factor authentication than text messages. Here are the pros and cons of each.
Do you store photos, videos and important documents in the cloud? Make sure you keep a copy of what you hold most dear.
Browser extensions are free add-ons that you can use to slow down or stop data collection. Here are a few to try.
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