Packers Fans Scammed, Pentagon Bans Tencent, Telecom Namibia Targeted

It’s the second week of January 2025. While some people are staying true to their New Year resolutions, others are still reveling in the holiday mood. But threat actors across the world are super active around this time. They love to make the most out of this phase when security tends to get a bit relaxed because of everything that is going around. 

That’s why we are here to remind you of the malicious attempts that scammers keep on making to get unauthorized access to your data and money.

This week’s bulletin includes the unfortunate incident where the Green Bay Packers fans got tricked by a payment skimmer. Also, we will focus on the ransomware attack on Telecom Namibia. Lastly, our eyes will be on Tencent which just got banned by the Pentagon.

Without wasting time anymore, let’s get started!

Green Bay Packers football fans targeted by payment skimmer!

8514 Green Bay Packers fans got the biggest surprise of their lives when they realized that they’d been duped by a payment card skimmer. All these fans have purchased merch from the Packers Pro Shop website during the last fall. 

The football franchise was all geared up to play against the opposition- the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was their 8th season in 2024. 

All the affected fans have been alerted via a notification letter that mentions a malicious code insertion on the football franchise’s official website. The security staff and other authorities got to know about the threat attempt on October 23. They immediately requested for the e-commerce website to be taken offline. 

Experts are concerned that the malicious code may have been able to get access to some customer information. Those fans who had checked out using a certain set of payment options to buy merch of their choice may have inadvertently exposed their data to the threat actors.

Customers who have used PayPal, a Pro Shop website account, a gift card, or Amazon Pay are safe as their data is not exposed. However, those who have used any other mode of payment are clearly at risk as threat actors have gained unauthorized access to their full payment card information, emails, names, and billing and shipping addresses.

Pentagon puts a ban on Tencent, the gaming giant!

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has labeled the messaging and gaming giant Tencent as a Chinese military business. The Pentagon has put a federal ban on the gaming company. The US Department of Treasury has accused Integrity Technology Group, a China-based cybersecurity company, of computer intrusion into crucial infrastructural systems across the US. 

Tencent can no longer assist the US federal government with its services or technology. Tencent is not the only company to join the list “Section 1260”. Some of the other brands that are part of the same list are Huawei, Changxin Memory Technologies, COSCO, and Autel Robotics. 

The shares of Tencent dropped by a whopping 10% moments after the announcement. As of now, Tencent can still operate its business in the US. However, its services will no longer be accepted by the Federal government. 

Tencent is hopeful that things will work out with the DoD and that there’s a misunderstanding.

Telecom Namibia on the radar of ransomware attackers!

Ransomware attacks are on the rise across Africa. Also, threat actors are majorly targeting crucial infrastructures across Africa to maximize the extent of damage. 

Last month, Telecom Namibia alerted its customers about the Hunters International-led Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) that it had experienced recently. Telecom Namibia is working in close coordination with law enforcement agencies, security companies, and third-party incident responders.  

Initially, authorities believed that sensitive data had not been compromised. However, with deeper investigation, experts realized that attackers have access to customer data. Security agencies and experts have been working together to mitigate the impact of the attack. However, the attackers leaked the data on the dark web after authorities refused to entertain their demands.

This is not the first time that threat actors are targeting crucial infrastructures of national importance. Back in June 2024, the National Health Laboratory in South Africa was also targeted by cybercriminals. It was a ransomware attack that led to complete disruption of the system. They deleted the backups, too. The government-led healthcare facility took weeks to recover from the blow of this ransomware attack.

Similarly, in July 2024, the Phobos RaaS group targeted some of the crucial cloud services that serve African government organizations. The Hunters International group managed to wipe out 18GB worth of data from the Kenyan Urban Roads Authority (KURA).

Cybersecurity experts believe that this trend of ransomware attacks on critical infrastructures will continue even in 2025. They think that the major contributing factors are rapid digitization and a lack of proper cybersecurity measures. Cybersecurity experts emphasize that combating ransomware attacks requires robust email security measures, including implementing DMARC, DKIM, and SPF protocols, to prevent phishing and spoofing vulnerabilities.