At a glance.
- Signal messaging app popular among protesters.
- Knoxville sustains ransomware attack.
- Maze hits M&A consulting firm.
Protesters prefer Signal.
The Signal secure messaging app has become a favorite of people engaged in protests during unrest prompted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. The New York Times says that the service's end-to-end encryption is attractive for its promised ability to secure communications from interception.
Ransomware attack in Knoxville.
The US city of Knoxville, Tennessee, has taken its systems offline as it copes with a ransomware attack. The strain of ransomware is so far publicly unknown, but Knoxville officials say that no citizens’ data were lost. It seems early to be able to assert with confidence that the information encrypted hadn't been stolen as well, and ZDNet reports that the city's data were indeed encrypted.
BleepingComputer says the city’s fire department noticed that something was amiss yesterday at 4:30 in the morning, and Knoxville took its services offline shortly thereafter. They still hadn’t been restored as of this afternoon. Knoxville shares some IT resources with surrounding Knox County, but the County has tweeted assurances that its own systems and data were unaffected.
M&A consultancy sustains Maze attack.
The Maze ransomware gang has claimed responsibility for an attack on Threadstone Advisors, a New York firm that specializes in consulting on mergers and acquisitions. Infosecurity Magazine says that the extortionists claim to have stolen data before they encrypted information in Threadstone’s possession. Threadstone's clients include Charles S. Cohen, Pittsburgh Brewing Co., Harrys of London, Xcel Brands, and Victoria Beckham.