Defray, which (ironically enough) means providing money to financially leverage a cost or expense, is also the name of a new, highly-targeted ransomware virus, focusing on victimizing such vulnerable industries as healthcare and education across the US and UK.
The sophistication of the highly-customized spear-phishing emails, and the higher-than-average ransom of approximately $5000 in bitcoin, suggest a well-organized cybergang is most likely responsible for this new strain of malware. They also use official company logos and Microsoft documents to trick the victims. They are even providing their victims with email addresses and recommending BitMessage in order for the victims to receive more timely responses.
In this increasingly sophisticated cyberwarfare, it is becoming even more important that companies be sure to ramp up employee cybersecurity training, which includes phishing attack tests, to ensure that the staff is applying what they are learning.
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