A botnet is a cluster of machines that are infected with malware, enabling hackers to control them and unleash a string of attacks. Most commonly, botnets come in the form of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and recently the Microsoft Azure DDoS Protection team reported a 25% increase in these attacks when compared to the first half of 2021. Recent advances in technology have opened up a world of new opportunities for both consumers and businesses.

Though the level of fear of Covid 19 has diminished, there are other fears surrounding the 2022 Olympic games. Fears of telecom disruptions and ransomware attacks are founded, and the damage that could be caused has increased with the reliance on technology to broadcast the Games, which kicks off on February 4. Organizers are preparing for the kind of cyberattack that temporarily paralyzed IT systems ahead of the official opening ceremonies of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Disruptive and destructive cyber operations have been levied against elements of Ukrainian society by adversaries attributed to the Russian government — or groups highly likely to be controlled by them — since at least 2014. These operations have impacted several sectors, including energy, transportation and state finance, and have attempted to influence political processes and affect businesses more broadly within the country.

Here's a short overview of the most interesting cybernews that made headlines this week.

Supply chain compromises are an increasing threat that impacts a range of sectors, with threat actors leveraging access to support several motivations including financial gain (such as with the Kaseya ransomware attack) and espionage. Throughout 2020, an operation attributed to the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (SVR) by the U.S.

Over the past months, Cyberint Research Team observed a new group that emerged on several underground forums. What seemed to be “yet another info stealer seller” has turned out to be something far more interesting. As the group is named Jester Stealer, that were, at first, selling a fairly sophisticated info stealer (Figure 1). Other evidence suggests that there is much more to it. Cyberint Research Team discovered a developing threat group that gets their claws into whatever they can find.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most high-profile technology developments in recent history. It would appear that there is no end to what AI can do. Fom driverless cars, dictation tools, translator apps, predictive analytics and application tracking, as well as retail tools such as smart shelves and carts to apps that help people with disabilities, AI can be a powerful component of wonderful tech products and services.

Cyber security (or information security) aims to protect an organisation’s or individual’s assets, be they digital or physical. In digital assets, an individual’s password is the most sensitive and valuable piece of information that cybercriminals can attempt to get their hands on.

This weekly cybersecurity news overview provides a brief recap of the most important and interesting stories that dominated headlines in the past seven days.