Index to Nigerian Newspapers

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has alerted members of the public to a New Year scheme to deliver ransomware to targeted organizational networks. The cybercrime group has been mailing out USB thumb drives to many organizations in the hope that recipients will plug them into their PCs and install the ransomware. The USB drives contain so-called 'BadUSB' attacks, which allow an attacker to reprogram a USB drive to emulate a keyboard to create keystrokes and commands on a computer. Attack tools are also installed in the process that allow for exploitation of personal computers, lateral movement across a network, and installation of additional malware. The attack has been seen in the US where the USB drives were sent in the mail with a message impersonating the US Department of Health and Human Services and claimed to be a COVID-19 warning. However, ngCERT has offered recommendations that will enable corporate and individual networks to mitigate the impact of this new cyber-attack and be protected from the ransomware.

Guardian, Monday, January 17, 2022, pg.3