The Nigerian government has warned its residents about the growing tide of ransomware assaults on individuals and organisations, according to the Nigeria Computer and Emergency Response Team (ngCERT) via X.
New ransomware targets cloud services
The Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) of Nigeria oversees the ngCERT team, which assessed the attacks as critical and high. It revealed that it had observed a rise in Phobos ransomware assaults, which were directed against important cloud service providers operating in Nigerian internet.
To promptly address the events and stop other assaults, the team stated that it is collaborating with susceptible and impacted organisations.
List of top targets by attackers
The organisation included tech and telecom companies among its list of the most vulnerable businesses. NGOs, service providers, healthcare, and education are some more targets.
It requested that companies lock down on remote desktop protocol (RDP) ports in order to stop threat actors from misusing and utilising its resources.
The CIA reportedly revealed that Phobos attackers use IP scanning tools as furious IP scanners to find unprotected RDP ports or phishing campaigns to deliver concealed payloads to weak networks.
Nigerian banks sack employees over fraud
Continuing, according to reports, the attackers use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) in Microsoft Windows installations. They also use counterfeit email attachments that contain payloads, such as smoke loaders, to start injections. This development coincides with an upsurge in insider fraud in Nigerian banking institutions.
According to the digital news site, 93 workers of the nation’s commercial banks were fired for fraud after one of the institutions’ employees stole around N44 billion from client accounts.
NCC warns Nigerians to remove 5 Google Chrome extensions
The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has discovered five malicious Google Chrome extensions, according to local brand news. The commission claims that the extensions steal user data and covertly monitor internet browser activities.
