THE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has informed members of the general public of a cyber-crime group that has perfected a scheme to deliver ransomware to targeted organizational networks.
The NCC warned everyone to be vigilant in order not to fall victim of such cyber attacks in a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde recently.
The new ransomware uncovered by security experts has been categorised, by the Nigerian Computer Emergency Response Team’s (ngCERT), as high-risk and critical. According to the ngCERT, the criminal group reportedly mails out USB thumb drives to many organisations in the hope that those who receive these drives will plug them into their computers and install the ransomware on their networks.
Both organisation and individual personal computers are at risk once these USB thumb drives containing so-called ‘BadUSB’ attacks are plugged in.
“The BadUSB exploits the USB standards versatility and allows an attacker to reprogram a USB drive to emulate a keyboard to create keystrokes and commands on a computer. It then installs malware prior to the operating system booting, or spoofs a network card to redirect traffic.“
In plain terms, criminals are using USB drives to hack into company and individual computer systems for criminal purposes.
Nigerians are advised by the NCC to be wary of the USB drives given to them for use henceforth.
