The US Intelligence Community has reiterated warnings about a clear and present threat of Russian activity against elections and infrastructure. Those same agencies, and the White House, pledged what they characterize as a "vast, government-wide effort" to protect the coming midterm elections against foreign interference. General Paul Nakasone, who leads both NSA and US Cyber Command, indicated that both of his organizations will be involved in that effort.
Kaspersky Lab reports a criminal campaign against roughly four-hundred Russian industrial companies. It begins with highly targeted spearphishing designed to induce the victims to install remote administrative tools on their systems.
A large cryptojacking effort is underway. Trustwave and Censys.io report that more than 170 thousand MicroTik routers have been infected with the CoinHive cryptominer. Ground zero of the campaign appears to be in Brazil, but the infestation is thought to be spreading rapidly.
Two attacks on municipal systems are drawing attention. The smaller is the attack Matanuska-Susitna Borough sustained last week in Alaska. The town has declared that the incident amounts to an official emergency, and is taking various measures to contain and remediate its problems, including reversion to typewriters for routine tasks like preparing receipts. The attack included installation of the Emotet Trojan and BitPaymer cryptolocker ransomware.
Matanuska-Sustina is calling it the biggest attack on a US city or town, but Atlanta might dispute the claim. Atlanta's cost to remediate the SamSam ransomware attack it sustained in March is now estimated at $17 million, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.