VPN usage in Russia skyrockets by 10,000% following Instagram ban

The new wave of VPN installs originating from Russia began on March 11, 2022, when the Russian government’s communication agency announced it would block Instagram in Russia beginning on March 14, 2022.

Nearly 90% of cyberattacks worldwide are targeting Russia or Ukraine

Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has led to battles being fought not only on the battlefield but also in the digital world. While Russian hackers have a long history of state-sponsored cyberattacks, many white hat hackers and hacktivists globally are standing on the side of Ukraine and helping to fight cyber battles.

52% of women believe their gender is limiting their careers in the tech industry

Today we can celebrate many great women who have helped shape the tech world as we know it. From Katherine Johnson, a mathematician whose pioneering work at NASA was instrumental in the success of the first and subsequent US crewed space flights, to Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Girls Who Code, these and many other talented women continue to pave the way for others in tech.  Nevertheless, women are still largely underrepresented in the tech industry and face many obstacles when pursuing a career in the field.

PayPal and Mastercard most impersonated in financial phishing schemes in 2021

Payment system and e-shop brands are especially targeted by cybercriminals, as such companies deal with a lot of sensitive information. Scammers create emails and websites that impersonate the top brands worldwide, in hopes of tricking victims to giving up their financial accounts or credit card information.

VPN demand in Russia surges by nearly 2,000% in a week

According to in-house aggregated Atlas VPN user data, Virtual Private Network (VPN) installs in Russia surged by 1,906% in the last few days. The interest in VPNs started to increase on February 16, 2022, after the first wave of cyberattacks against Ukraine occurred.

Atlas VPN hands out VPN subscriptions to support journalists in Ukraine

As we stand for freedom online and beyond, we wish to help journalists who risk their safety to provide the most accurate information to the public. Therefore, Atlas VPN will hand out Premium VPN subscriptions to journalists in Ukraine until the crisis is over.

Study: Amazon, DHL, and DocuSign most imitated brands in phishing emails

According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team, Amazon tops the list as the most impersonated brand in email phishing attacks in 2021 globally. In total, 17.7% of brand phishing emails used Amazon's brand name.

Ransomware volume doubles in 2021, surpassing 600 million

Cybercriminals use ransomware as a tool to encrypt companies’ essential data. Usually, if an organization has not backed up its information in the cloud, it is doomed for big trouble. They either have to pay a hefty ransom or lose data forever, which could end the business altogether.