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Websites threatened with DDoS attack on September 30

Monday 25 September 2017 10:53 CET | News

“Phantom Squad” has threatened thousands of companies around the world with distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks unless they pay 0.2 Bitcoin ransomware.

The spammed-out emails have as subject line “DDoS Warning” and the 0.2 Bitcoin demanded is equivalent to approximately USD 720. A group called Phantom Squad has previously associated with DDoS attacks launched against the likes of the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Steam, and other video gaming services.

The emails are being sent to all types of companies, in what appears to be more of a scattergun approach, rather than targeting specific victims, according to We Live Security. Is it possible that whoever is responsible for the current spate of emails is asking for a relatively small amount of money in the hope that smaller companies will be panicked into paying up, even if there is no evidence that the extortionists will follow through with their threats.

Companies that fear their site might be a potential victim of a DDoS attack are advised by security specialists to reach out to a DDoS mitigation provider and their service providers to see how they might be able to help.


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Keywords: Phantom Squad, ransomware, DDoS, online security, Bitcoin, DDoS mitigation providers, cybersecurity
Categories: Fraud & Financial Crime
Companies:
Countries: World
This article is part of category

Fraud & Financial Crime






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