Technology

Global Ransomware Attacks, Demands and Payments Rose in Second Quarter According to Corvus Insurance Cyber Threat Report

Published

1 month ago

August 22, 2024

Q2 2024 Represents Second Most Global Ransomware Attacks Reported by Corvus in a Quarter, Average Ransom Demand Increases by 102%

BOSTON, Aug. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Corvus Insurance , a wholly owned subsidiary of The Travelers Companies, Inc., today released its Q2 2024 Cyber Threat Report, Ransomware Season Arrives Early. Featuring data collected from ransomware leak sites, the report identified 1,248 ransomware victims in Q2, the second most the company has recorded in a single quarter.

During the quarter, new ransomware groups, including PLAY, Medusa, RansomHub, INC Ransom, BlackSuit and some additional lesser-known factions, led a series of attacks that eclipsed the first quarter of this year by 16% and the second quarter of 2023 by 8%. These new threat actors emerged following the takedown of LockBit and BlackCat by international law enforcement.

Ransomware Demands and Payouts on the Rise
Based on Corvus data, the Q2 report found that the average ransomware demand reached $1,571,667. That represents a quarterly increase of 102% and the highest figure Corvus has reported since the second quarter of 2022. The average ransom payment also reached a new high of $626,415.

According to the research, a company’s backup strategies can impact payouts. Businesses without robust backups are more than twice as likely to surrender to ransom demands during an attack. Conversely, organizations with effective backup strategies have incurred median claim costs 72% lower than their less-prepared counterparts.

Ransomware Operators Continue Evolving Tactics
Recognizing that many organizations possess valuable and sensitive information, ransomware operators have evolved their tactics by engaging in double-extortion schemes where operators encrypt data, exfiltrate it and then threaten to release it on the dark web. So far in 2024, data theft was involved in 93% of ransomware incidents observed by Corvus, up from 88% in 2023. Using double-extortion schemes, even organizations with secure backups may be forced to pay ransoms, often to prevent the exposure of stolen data.

“Data theft has become the technique employed by attackers to secure maximum payouts from their victims, whether or not they have secure backups,” said Jason Rebholz, Chief Information Security Officer at Corvus Insurance. “A robust security plan is never one layer deep. While a sound backup strategy is important, it cannot mitigate these threats alone. Businesses must utilize a multi-layered security strategy based on a resilient environment with fast detection and prevention capabilities.”

Key Industry Trends: Construction Becomes the Most Frequently Targeted Industry in Q2
While the Corvus study found that industries most affected by ransomware attacks remained largely similar from the first quarter, Construction moved from second to first in the second quarter. In addition, Government and Oil and Gas joined the list, and ransomware attacks targeting the Software Development and IT Services and IT Consulting sectors were up 257% and 54%, respectively. RansomHub was responsible for 16% of the reported victims within the IT Services industry, followed by PLAY and BlackSuit, which accounted for an additional 18%.

To learn more, a webinar called “Q2 Cyber Threat Report: Ransomware Season Arrives Early” is scheduled for August 29 and will feature Corvus experts.

About Corvus Insurance
Corvus Insurance is building a safer world through insurance products and digital tools that reduce risk, increase transparency, and improve resilience for policyholders and program partners. Our market-leading specialty insurance products are enabled by advanced data science and include Smart Cyber Insurance® and Smart Tech E+O™. Our digital platforms and tools enable efficient quoting and binding and proactive risk mitigation. Corvus Insurance offers insurance products in the U.S., Middle East, Europe, Canada, and Australia. Corvus Insurance, Corvus London Markets, and Corvus Germany are the marketing names used to refer to Corvus Insurance Agency, LLC; Corvus Agency Limited; and Corvus Underwriting GmbH. All entities are subsidiaries of Corvus Insurance Holdings, Inc. Corvus Insurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Travelers Companies, Inc., was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts with offices across the U.S., in the UK, and Germany. For more information, visit corvusinsurance.com .

Contact:
Kerry Pillion
kpillion@corvusinsurance.com

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SOURCE Corvus Insurance

Technology

SK hynix Applies CXL Optimization Solution to Linux

Published

55 mins ago

September 23, 2024

HMSDK, a proprietary memory control solution lauded for its performance, is now available on Linux, the world’s largest open source operating systemHMSDK optimizes performance between heterogeneous memories, increasing bandwidth by 30% and performance by over 12%The company will foster the ecosystem by increasing software competitiveness as well as AI memory such as HBM

SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — SK hynix Inc. (or “the company”, www.skhynix.com) announced today that the key features of its Heterogeneous Memory Software Development Kit (HMSDK)1 are now available on Linux2, the world’s largest open source operating system.

1Heterogeneous Memory Software Development Kit (HMSDK): SK hynix’s proprietary software development kit. It enables effective memory control, improving the performance of heterogeneous memory systems such as CXL memory.

2Linux: An operating system developed in 1991 by Linus Torvalds that has since expanded to become the world’s largest open source operating system. Most operating systems for cloud systems and supercomputers, as well as smartphones, cars, and appliances, are built on Linux.

HMSDK is SK hynix’s proprietary software for optimizing the operation of Compute Express Link (CXL)3, which is gaining attention as a next-generation AI memory technology along with High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Having received global recognition for HMSDK’s performance, SK hynix is now integrating it with Linux. This accomplishment marks a significant milestone for the company as it highlights the company’s competitiveness in software, adding to the recognition for its high-performance memory hardware such as HBM.

3Compute Express Link (CXL): A next-generation interface that efficiently connects CPU, GPU, memory, and other components in high-performance computing systems to support massive, ultra-fast computation. By applying CXL to existing memory modules, the capacity can be expanded by more than 10 times.

In the future, developers around the world working on Linux will be able to use SK hynix’s technology as the industry standard for CXL memory, putting the company in an advantageous position for global collaboration on next-generation memory.

SK hynix’s HMSDK enhances memory package’s bandwidth by over 30% without modifying existing applications. It achieves this by selectively allocating memory based on the bandwidth between existing memory and expanded CXL memory. Additionally, the software improves performance by more than 12% over conventional systems through optimization based on access frequency, a feature which relocates frequently accessed data to faster memory.

The semiconductor industry anticipates full commercialization of CXL in the second half of 2024, coinciding with the release of the first server CPUs featuring the “CXL 2.0” specification. In preparation for this, SK hynix is currently validating CXL 2.0 memory in 96 GB and 128 GB capacities with customers. The company plans to begin mass production by the end of the year.

“For the development and spread of AI systems such as large language models (LLMs), it is now necessary to significantly improve not only semiconductors but also the level of system applications to support them,” said Youngpyo Joo, Head of Software Solution at SK hynix. “With this Linux integration and collaboration, we will strive to improve our status as a total AI memory solutions provider by innovating technologies and expanding the ecosystem in this field.”

About SK hynix Inc.

SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world’s top-tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (“DRAM”), flash memory chips (“NAND flash”), and CMOS Image Sensors (“CIS”) for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.

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SOURCE SK hynix Inc.

Technology

TeraBox Is Set to Provide Premier Cloud Storage Solutions to Top Indonesian University Faculty and Students

Published

55 mins ago

September 23, 2024

Transforming Classrooms: TeraBox’s 1TB Free Cloud Storage Becomes Essential for Educators and Students

TOKYO, Sept. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — TeraBox (“TeraBox” or “the Company”), a globally trusted cloud storage service headquartered in Tokyo, also a favored cloud storage solution among Indonesian users, held its first large-scale campus event at prominent Indonesian universities such as University Diponegoro, Universitas Indonesia, and Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember. The company hosted numerous offline events, attracting interactions from more than 30,500 students and teachers, and handed out 85,000 flyers. Event videos posted on the universities’ official Instagram and YouTube accounts received tens of thousands of views. TeraBox looks forward to deepening its collaboration with academic institutions to offer innovative cloud storage solutions for students.

In an era where digital resources are integral to academic success, TeraBox is committed to becoming an essential tool for students, providing a secure and efficient way to save and share curriculum files and materials, simplifying file management. By offering a massive 1TB (1024GB) of free cloud storage space per account, TeraBox alleviates the challenges of managing extensive educational materials, such as e-books, digital textbooks, learning notes, and experimental data in the new semester to come. Furthermore, TeraBox enhances productivity by enabling students to engage in online assignments and collaborative projects, fostering sharing, collaboration, and communication among students and between students and teachers. TeraBox not only addresses issues related to insufficient memory on devices like smartphones and laptops, but also significantly boosts efficiency in data management in an environmentally friendly manner.

Understanding the need for seamless collaboration, TeraBox features user-friendly sharing options that allow students and faculties to create links with just one click. This facilitates easy sharing of multiple files simultaneously, which can greatly improve collaborative efforts among peers. Whether accessing files from mobile devices or desktops, students can manage their documents effortlessly anytime and anywhere. Feedback from offline surveys reveals that many users in Indonesia are impressed with TeraBox’s offering of 1TB (1024GB) of free storage space. This generous storage not only meets the needs of university students for sharing various social and lifestyle content but also eliminates the necessity of creating multiple accounts with other storage services to fulfill their storage requirements.

As of July 2024, TeraBox boasts over 320 million registered users worldwide, with more than 20 million active daily users across over 231 countries and regions. The platform ensures top-tier security by employing advanced measures such as TLS/SSL protocols, encryption algorithms, and access controls. TeraBox is accredited with ISO standards (ISO 27001/27701/27018) certifications to protect the safety of data storage and transmission. These technologies also guarantee the stored and transmitted information is safe through client-side endpoint encryption within a large-scale distributed system architecture.

About TeraBox

TeraBox, developed by Flextech Inc., is a globally trusted cloud storage app headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. With a focus on intelligent, efficient, and secure cloud storage, TeraBox is dedicated to providing users with innovative and user-friendly solutions for their data storage needs. Download the TeraBox App on Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, and Windows devices, or visit www.terabox.com for online access. To learn more about the fantastic Referral Program, please visit the provided site.

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SOURCE Flextech Inc.

Technology

Elmo Motion Control Exhibiting at Industrial Automation Show in Shanghai, China

Published

55 mins ago

September 23, 2024

Elmo brings live demonstrations to present the power of motion to Hall 5.1 in Booth E181.

PETAH TIKVA, Israel, Sept. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Elmo Motion Control, a global technology leader in motion control solutions, announces its participation at the annual IAS (Industrial Automation Show) exhibition at NECC in Shanghai, China, from September 24 to September 28. At the show, Elmo will display the Platinum line of servo drives, which include fully certified Functional Safety capabilities in small yet powerful packages, and conduct live demonstrations.

Elmo’s featured demonstrations will include an operating customer XYZT stage dynamic demo with four-axis movement controlled by a single multi-axis servo drive – the Platinum Quartet. Also on the floor will be a multi-axis gantry machine from our customer PBA Systems PTE Ltd and more. In addition, visitors can be the first in China to see the future of motion control – the next-generation motion controller with artificial intelligence readiness and a new line of multi-axis servo drives.

“We look forward to greeting visitors at this year’s show and presenting the latest Elmo products. On display throughout our booth is the future of motion control and the experience of seeing our multi-axis products in action. This year, we created an environment for machine developers to learn about advanced motion performance for any application in real-time,” stated Dr. Wayne Chen, Elmo China GM.

About Elmo Motion Control

Elmo has been a motion control technology leader for over 35 years, with millions of servo drives working 24/7 worldwide. Elmo offers complete motion control solutions from design to delivery of cutting-edge servo drives, network-based multi-axis motion controllers, and integrated servo motors. All solutions can be customized and configured using Elmo’s proprietary advanced and easy-to-use software tools for any machine in any industry, such as semiconductors, lasers, robots, life sciences, industrial automation, AGV, and more. The company employs more than 350 personnel with headquarters in Israel and offices in the United States, China, Germany, Italy, Korea, Singapore, and an additional manufacturing facility in Poland. Elmo has a worldwide distribution network. By advancing motion control with state-of-the-art technology, Elmo makes smart machines even smarter. As of 2022, Elmo is a Bosch Rexroth company.

For more information, visit www.elmomc.com or email marketing@elmomc.com.

Elmo Motion Control:
Robert Dugan, Marketing Manager at Elmo Motion Control
T: +972-(3)-929-2300 (ext. 368)
E: robertd@elmom.com

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SOURCE Elmo Motion Control, Ltd.