Brazilian government confirms ransomware attack on

National Treasury

The Ministry of Economy of the Government of Brazil announced that the internal network of the National Treasury was impacted by a ransomware attack. According to the Ministry, the ransomware attack was discovered on Friday night, but it is not known when the intrusion first took place. At present, the ransomware attack is being investigated by cyber security specialists from the National Treasury Secretariat and the Digital Government Secretariat.

On Friday night (13) a ransomware attack on the internal network of the National Treasury Secretariat was identified. Containment measures were immediately applied and the Federal Police called.

“In this first stage, it was evaluated that the action did not damage the structuring systems of the National Treasury Secretariat, such as the Integrated Financial Administration System (SIAFI) and those related to Public Debt. Sanitary measures are being taken. New information on the subject will be disclosed in a timely manner and with due transparency”, the Ministry said.

In recent times, a number of federal institutions in Brazil have been targeted by ransomware actors. For instance, in November last year, a ransomware attack struck Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice, enabling hackers to infiltrate the network and forcing authorities to shut down the network.

In June, Brazil’s largest medical diagnostics company Grupo Fleury also suffered a debilitating ransomware that forced it to take systems offline and initiate restoration operations. Bleeping Computer reported that the firm suffered a REvil ransomware attack, with the REvil gang demanding as much as $5 million in cryptocurrency. It is not known if a ransom was ultimately paid.

Internet: <https://www.teiss.co.uk>.

What is the dark web? How to access it and what

you'll find? Deep web vs. dark web: What’s the difference?

The dark web is a part of the Internet that isn't indexed by search engines. You've no doubt heard talk of the “dark web” as a hotbed of criminal activity — and it is. Researchers Daniel Moore and Thomas Rid of King's College in London classified the contents of 2,723 live dark web sites over a five-week period in 2015 and found that 57% host illicit material.

You can buy credit card numbers, all manner of drugs, guns, counterfeit money, stolen subscription credentials, hacked Netflix accounts and software that helps you break into other people’s computers. Buy login credentials to a $50,000 Bank of America account, counterfeit $20 bills, prepaid debit cards, or a “lifetime” Netflix premium account. You can hire hackers to attack computers for you. You can buy usernames and passwords.

However, not everything is illegal; the dark web also has a legitimate side. For example, you can join a chess club or BlackBook, a social network described as the “the Facebook of Tor”.

The terms “deep web” and “dark web” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Deep web refers to anything on the Internet that is not indexed by and, therefore, accessible via a search engine like Google. Deep web content includes anything behind a paywall or requires sign-in credentials. It also includes any content that its owners have blocked web crawlers from indexing.

Medical records, fee-based content, membership websites, and confidential corporate web pages are just a few examples of what makes up the deep web. Estimates place the size of the deep web at between 96% and 99% of the Internet. Only a tiny^D) portion of the Internet is accessible through a standard web browser — generally known as the “clear web”.

The dark web is a subset of the deep web that is intentionally hidden, requiring a specific browser — Tor — to access. No one really knows the size of the dark web, but most estimates put it at around 5% of the total Internet. Again, not all the dark web is used for illicit purposes despite its ominous-sounding name.

Internet: <https://www.csoonline.com> (adapted).

What is the dark web? How to access it and what

you'll find? Deep web vs. dark web: What’s the difference?

The dark web is a part of the Internet that isn't indexed by search engines. You've no doubt heard talk of the “dark web” as a hotbed of criminal activity — and it is. Researchers Daniel Moore and Thomas Rid of King's College in London classified the contents of 2,723 live dark web sites over a five-week period in 2015 and found that 57% host illicit material.

You can buy credit card numbers, all manner of drugs, guns, counterfeit money, stolen subscription credentials, hacked Netflix accounts and software that helps you break into other people’s computers. Buy login credentials to a $50,000 Bank of America account, counterfeit $20 bills, prepaid debit cards, or a “lifetime” Netflix premium account. You can hire hackers to attack computers for you. You can buy usernames and passwords.

However, not everything is illegal; the dark web also has a legitimate side. For example, you can join a chess club or BlackBook, a social network described as the “the Facebook of Tor”.

The terms “deep web” and “dark web” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Deep web refers to anything on the Internet that is not indexed by and, therefore, accessible via a search engine like Google. Deep web content includes anything behind a paywall or requires sign-in credentials. It also includes any content that its owners have blocked web crawlers from indexing.

Medical records, fee-based content, membership websites, and confidential corporate web pages are just a few examples of what makes up the deep web. Estimates place the size of the deep web at between 96% and 99% of the Internet. Only a tiny portion of the Internet is accessible through a standard web browser — generally known as the “clear web”.

The dark web is a subset of the deep web that is intentionally hidden, requiring a specific browser — Tor — to access. No one really knows the size of the dark web, but most estimates put it at around 5% of the total Internet. Again, not all the dark web is used for illicit purposes despite its ominous-sounding name.

Internet: <https://www.csoonline.com> (adapted).