Day: July 9, 2024

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The Lockbit ransomware attack on Evolve Bank has compromised the personal information of over 7.6 million individuals.

At the end of June, the LockBit gang announced that it had breached the systems of the Federal Reserve of the United States and exfiltrated 33 TB of sensitive data, including “Americans’ banking secrets.”

Despite the announcement, data leaked data from the group belongs to the Arkansas-based financial organization Evolve Bank & Trust.

The analysis of the data leaked by the LockBit group on its Tor leak site on June 26 confirmed the documents belong to the Evolve Bank & Trust.

Evolve Bank & Trust published a notice on its website to confirm the security breach and announced it has launched an investigation into the incident. The financial organization confirmed that certain personal information may have been compromised. The financial organization refused to pay the ransom and the gang leaked the stolen data.

“Evolve Bank & Trust is making retail bank customers and financial technology partners’ customers (end users) aware of a cybersecurity incident that may involve certain personal information, as well as the actions we have taken in response, and additional steps individuals may take.” reads the notice of Cybersecurity Incident. “Evolve is currently investigating a cybersecurity incident involving a known cybercriminal organization that appears to have illegally obtained and released on the dark web the data and personal information of some Evolve retail bank customers and financial technology partners’ customers (end users). We take this matter extremely seriously and are working diligently to address the situation.”

Evolve has reported the incident to law enforcement, it also added that the incident has been completely contained.

An update published on June 26, 2024 12:00pm confirmed that the company’s retail banking customers’ debit cards, online, and digital banking credentials do not appear to be impacted.

Now Evolve Bank & Trust started notifying more than 7.6 million individuals. According to a data breach notification filed with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, the security breach impacted 7,640,112 individuals.

Evolve has identified no new unauthorized activity on its network since May 31.

“On May 29, 2024, Evolve identified that some of its systems were not working properly. While it initially appeared to be a hardware failure, we subsequently learned it was unauthorized activity. Evolve promptly initiated its incident response processes and stopped the attack. No new unauthorized activity on Evolve’s systems has been identified since May 31, 2024.” reads the data breach notification. “An investigation with assistance from a cybersecurity firm was initiated to investigate what happened and what data may have been impacted. Evolve also notified law enforcement and worked to add further protections to harden its systems. What personal information was involved? There is no evidence that the threat actors accessed any customer funds, but it appears the threat actors did access and download customer information”

Last week, Fintech firms Wise and Affirm confirmed they were both impacted by the Evolve Bank security breach.

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, ransomware)

Get ready to dive into Shark Week!

The annual Discovery Channel programming started Sunday and runs throughout this week until July 13. This year marks the 36th anniversary of Shark Week; it’s the longest-running cable TV programming event in history. The event is wildly popular—the 30 Rock character Tracy Jordan, played by Tracy Morgan, even famously said in one episode: “Live every week like it’s Shark Week.” Here’s everything you need to know about the beloved weeklong event.

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What is Shark Week?

Each year, the Discovery Channel holds a weeklong event over the summer dedicated to shark-themed programming. The content was initially devoted to conservation efforts and addressing misconceptions about sharks. But some experts have criticized the event, saying that it focuses on the sensationalism of shark attacks rather than on science and conservation, as reported by NBC News.

There are 21 programs featured in this year’s Shark Week, including Monster Hammerheads: Species X, which airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. EST and is about a potential new species of hammerhead sharks. You can find the festive week’s full schedule on The Discovery Channel’s website.

When did Shark Week begin?

Shark Week started on July 17, 1988, when Caged in Fear aired on the Discovery Channel. The show was about testing a new motorized cage meant to resist shark attacks. Nine other shows premiered that year. The ratings during the very first Shark Week almost doubled Discovery Channel’s primetime average, according to the network.

Because of the great public reception to the first Shark Week, the Discovery Channel brought the event back the following year—and it soon became an annual summer event.

Read More: Are Shark Attacks Increasing? Here Are What the Data Say

Who has hosted Shark Week?

Shark Week was hosted for the first time in 1994, by the author of Jaws, Peter Benchley, according to the Discovery Channel. That year also marked the 20th anniversary of Benchley’s best-selling shark novel that inspired the cult-classic film. 

Since then, many notable celebrities and conservationists have hosted the event, including Dwayne Johnson, Jason Momoa, and Nigel Marven. This year’s event is being hosted by John Cena.

How popular is Shark Week?

More than 22 million viewers tuned into the event last year across the Discovery Channel, discovery+ , and Max, according to owner Warner Bros. Discovery. The 2023 event was the highest-rated Shark Week in three years.

Who watches Shark Week?

Throughout last year’s Shark Week, Discovery ranked as the number one primetime cable network with men and women between the ages of 25 and 54, as well as men and women between the ages of 18 and 49, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. During the 2023 event, Discovery ranked as the number two primetime network across all of television with men between the ages of 25 and 54, as well as men between the ages of 18 and 49.

“Shark Week once again proves to be summer’s most anticipated programming event,” Howard Lee, president of Discovery Networks and TLC, said in a press release last year. “We kept our momentum going each night and attracted a big audience.”

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Losing a pet is never easy. When facing the sudden loss of a furry companion, pet owners might not know what to do if their pet dies at home. 

While it may be unclear what best to do when experiencing such an ordeal, experts stress that it is important to take a second and grieve the loss.

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“Acknowledge your feelings about that loss,” says Dr. Jennie Rubenstein, veterinarian and  member of the New York State Veterinary Medical Society. “Nothing that needs to be done [is urgent].”

Here’s what to know about losing a pet unexpectedly at home. 

What signs to look out for in a pet’s last moments

Many pet owners might be unfamiliar with the processes that might occur when an animal dies. “Death has some stages to it,” notes Rubenstein. “As a pet is dying, it can be terrifying to watch, because we’re not used to seeing the signs of death.”

A pet may begin to show ragged or erratic breathing and some animals might begin to vocalize, but it is important to remain calm. “The best thing is to just sit and be with the pet and not to panic,” says Rubenstein. 

There are several indications that might show if an animal has passed. Rest your head on your pet’s chest to check their heartbeat or look for signs that their pupil has dilated. The most obvious sign is a stiff body and cold feet. After an animal passes, it might leak fluid from the nose or mouth, or excrete urine or stool. 

When you begin to see changes develop, call your veterinarian or an emergency pet hospital to help you confirm if the animal has passed. “Always consider calling the veterinarian, that might be where you’d be taking the body anyway,” says Rubenstein, adding that they can help you locate pet cemeteries and cremation services. 

Take Momentos 

Some pet owners may want to take momentos of their pet to use in a memorial. Rubenstein suggests taking a hair clipping for a shadow box, or using ink or paint to make an impression of your pet’s nose or paws. Other items, like a collar or favorite toy, might be important to set aside for later. 

Ready the Animal for Burial 

Lay the body on a plastic sheet or garbage bag and cover it with a blanket or towel. Place the body in the coolest part of your home, and surround it with ice packs. Rubenstein recommends laying the body in a position for burial. Your vet, or an emergency pet clinic, can help you figure out options for where to lay your pet to rest—whether it’s a pet cemetery or cremation service.

When it comes to larger animals—like horses, goats, or pigs—check in with your local municipality. They might have specific regulations in place for how to dispose of the body. 

Grieve Your Loss

If you have children in the household, take the time to explain what has happened in an age appropriate manner—using resources like picture books can help them process their emotions.  

Consider attending a support group and surrounding yourself with people who will meet your loss with empathy. 

Most importantly, allow yourself to feel your emotions. “It’s okay to really acknowledge the depths to which pets have a huge impact on our lives,” says Rubenstein. “They don’t live as long as humans and they carry us through certain chapters—sometimes very difficult chapters of our lives. So we’re coping not just with the loss of the pet, we’re also losing a period of time that they may have sailed through life with us.”

It’s summer, and RSV and flu have come and gone. But, as ever, COVID-19 is different. Even though the pandemic may be behind us, the virus is once again surging in the U.S.

Here’s what to know about the current spike in COVID-19.

How serious is it?

COVID-19 seems to be settling into a pattern of two peaks a year: one in the winter and one in the summer. According to the latest data from the end of June, rates of positive COVID-19 tests from labs (which represent only a small fraction of overall cases), increased by nearly 1% from June 23-29. Emergency room visits for COVID-19 jumped 23% during that same time period, and hospitalizations for the disease increased by 13% from June 9-15. Signs of the COVID-19 virus in wastewater—which provides among the most accurate, real-time snapshots of cases—have been increasing since May. Just before July 4, four states—Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah—reported very high levels of the virus in wastewater samples collected from sewage facilities.

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The good news is that while the number of cases is climbing, deaths from COVID-19 continue to drop. In the last week of June, deaths from COVID-19 declined by 25%.

Why are COVID-19 cases increasing?

The rise in cases is due to a number of factors. First, people’s immunity to the virus is waning; only 22% of people in the U.S. received the most updated vaccine, which became available in the fall. Second, the newest variants are mutating to spread more easily between people. That means more people are likely to get infected.

Read More: The Vaccines You’ll Need This Fall and Winter

But so far, the virus does not seem to be causing more severe disease. “The latest data on COVID-19 show that it is now starting to settle in and have similar kinds of statistics to influenza, meaning hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths every year,” says Dr. Paul Offit, director of the vaccine education center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine expert committee. And similar to flu, the people most severely affected are the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.

Which variants do I need to worry about now?

With a virus that mutates as quickly as SARS-CoV-2 does, keeping up with the alphabet-soup names of the newest variants is a daunting task. The latest strains are still from the Omicron family, and KP.2, and KP.3—two examples of the circulating ‘FLiRT’ variants, named for the locations of their particular mutations in the virus’ spike protein—are dominating new infections in the U.S. right now. Since June, FLiRT variants have accounted for more than 60% of COVID-19 infections in the U.S. The newest data from WastewaterSCAN found that FLiRT variants account for 55% of the COVID-19 variants found in wastewater samples from across the country, and the concentration of the virus in samples is more than double what it was in June 2023.

For now, it doesn’t appear that these mutations are making the virus more dangerous to human health or enabling the virus to cause more severe disease. But health experts are monitoring cases to learn more about these latest changes.

My recent bout with COVID-19 was worse than my previous infections. Is the virus getting stronger?

People who have been infected recently have experienced symptoms of fever, coughing, malaise, and even intestinal discomfort. But having more severe symptoms than you may be used to doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve encountered a more virulent strain. Dr. Robert Murphy, professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says that worse-than-usual bouts with COVID-19 could be due to the fact that their immunity is much lower now than what it was in previous years when more people were more recently vaccinated. The low uptake of the newest vaccine means fewer people have the strongest possible protection against the latest variants. “Vaccines gives you better immunity than getting the disease,” says Murphy. “Vaccines provide a controlled exposure that gives you a stronger immunologic response than from an infection.”

Is it still worth getting vaccinated?

Offit says vaccines are critical for people who are at high risk of developing complications from COVID-19, and staying up to date can protect them from being hospitalized. But it’s important to set realistic expectations. “The goal of the vaccine is to keep you out of the hospital, to keep you out of the intensive care unit, and to keep you out of the morgue,” he says. “That’s the goal—it’s not to protect you against mild disease.”

Read More: A Combined Flu and COVID-19 Shot May Be Coming

The CDC’s expert vaccine committee recently recommended an updated COVID-19 vaccine for everyone six months and older for the coming fall and winter season. The shot will be revised to target the KP variant currently circulating, which should improve the shot’s ability to minimize symptoms and severe COVID-19 disease.

Should I start wearing masks again in public?

With a more transmissible virus circulating, some people should consider it. “If I were in a high-risk group, such as being older or having a high-risk medical condition, and I’m in a large group of people I didn’t know—like on an airplane—I think it’s reasonable to wear a mask,” says Murphy. That consideration should also apply to people who are sick. “I think anyone who has a respiratory illness should stay at home,” says Offit. “And if you can’t stay at home, you should wear a mask. If you’re in a high-risk group, get tested,—and if you have COVID-19, take an antiviral [like Paxlovid].”

As the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan arrive in Washington for this week’s NATO Summit, Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-chairs – Representatives Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), and David Valadao (R-Calif.) – called for the Biden Administration to support Armenia’s sovereignty and withhold military aid to Azerbaijan.

“As Washington hosts the NATO Summit this week, the U.S. must ensure Azerbaijan faces consequences for its actions and is not rewarded for war crimes, human rights abuses, and the ethnic cleansing of over 120,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh,” the members said

“America must support Armenia’s sovereignty and reject Azerbaijan’s aggressive demands. This means stopping military aid to Azerbaijan and sanctioning officials responsible for abuses,” the co-chairs continued.

“As leaders gather at the NATO Summit, the Biden Administration must ensure Azerbaijan follows international laws, including returning Armenian prisoners of war, protecting cultural heritage sites, upholding the right of Armenians to return to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh under international guarantees. Accountability is crucial for lasting peace in the South Caucasus,” they concluded. 

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