CUHK just one of data hijackers' half a million targets
Half a million computer devices around the world have been targeted by the same hackers who this week managed to seize control of the Chinese University Faculty of Medicine's data on 10,000 patients.
Half a million computer devices around the world have been targeted by the same hackers who this week managed to seize control of the Chinese University Faculty of Medicine's data on 10,000 patients.
The scale of the bid to hijack network servers known as NAS systems was revealed after internet data monitoring company Shodan showed the cyberattack tried to breach some 85,000 devices in Germany alone.
France was the next biggest victim, with 58,000 attempted attacks. The Netherlands was targeted 35,000 times, while the United States suffered 32,500 attempted breaches.
It is believed however that only a few thousand attacks actually proved successful.
The attack at the CUHK's Faculty of Medicine targeted the Centre for Liver Health and Institute of Digestive Disease on Monday. Last night, the data was still beyond reach.
Leung Siu-cheong, a senior consultant on the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team, said the attack posed the biggest threat to small- and medium-sized businesses.
The perpetrators lock users out by encrypting the content of their servers. Users are then taken to a webpage demanding a ransom of 0.6 bitcoin (US$350) to free the information. The hackers have called their ransomware Synolocker and target systems using software developed by Taiwanese company Synology.
