Cerber eclipsed Locky as the most common ransomware pathogen doing the rounds in the first three months of 2017.

 

Cerber's control of the cybercrime market rose from 70 per cent market share in January to 87 per cent in March, according to the latest cybercrime tactics report by Malwarebytes Lab.

 

The success of Cerber is down to its features (robust encryption, offline encryption etc) combined with the adoption of a Ransomware-as-a-Service business model, whereby the ransomware can be modified or leased. "It's also very easy for non-technical criminals to get their hands on a customised version of the ransomware," Malwarebytes reports.

 

Malwarebytes' findings follow reports from Microsoft that Cerber was topping its Windows 10 ransomware chart.

 

By contrast, the Locky ransomware (last year's number one) has dropped off the map, likely due to a switch in tactics by the cybercrooks behind the Necurs spam botnet. No new versions of Locky have appeared throughout the year to date, Malwarebytes reports.

 

Looking beyond Windows, the Mac threat landscape saw a surge of new malware and backdoors in Q1 2017, including a new ransomware (FindZip). Elsewhere two Android nasties – HiddenAds.lck, which locks the device and prevents the removal of an ad slinging nuisance, and Jisut, a mobile ransomware family – have been causing all sorts of problems, according to Malwarebytes.

 

The cybersecurity firm has built up a solid reputation for exposing the operations of tech support scammers. This form of fraud normally starts with a pop-up ad or phone call claiming that a prospective mark's machine is infected or underperforming. Once victims respond, the scammer’s use a variety of social engineering tricks to coax victims into installing ineffective crudware or subscribing the worthless (or often damaging) services.

 

Tech support scammers, finding difficulty working with North American payment processors, have begun accepting alternate forms of payment, such as Apple gift cards and Bitcoin, it reports. Some scammer groups have started to scam each other. ®

 

Gail Borden was named Galveston’s first customs inspector in 1837. Borden would later achieve fame by inventing condensed milk.

Number 2, Galveston is home to Texas' first bakery.

Irish immigrant Christopher Fox opened a bakery in Galveston in 1838. It was the first bakery in the State of Texas. 

Number 3, Galveston was once the leading port of Texas.

In 1842, Galveston received the first cotton press in Texas. By 1899 Galveston was the world's foremost cotton port and the fifth most important port in the United States.

Number 4, Galveston was the first city in Texas with light.

Galveston was the first city in Texas to have gas lights (1856) and later the first city to have electric lights (1883).

Number 5, Galveston is home to Texas' first opera house.

The first opera house in Texas opened in Galveston in 1870. It was on the corner of Tremont and Market Streets. Below are past and present images of Galveston opera houses.

The first telephone in Texas was installed in Galveston in 1878. It was installed in the office of Colonel Belo, founder of the Galveston Daily News, the oldest surviving newspaper in Texas, founded in 1842. 

The oldest medical college in Texas opened in Galveston in 1891 followed by the first school for nurses in 1894. Originally known as the Texas Medical College, today it is known as the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). 

On the night of the Great Storm of 1900, Galveston was the second richest city per capita in all of the United States. The only city with more wealth than Galveston was Newport, Rhode Island. 

Number 9, Galveston was raised in grade after the 1900 Storm.

After the Great Storm of 1900, a seawall was constructed to protect the city from future storm surges. After construction of the seawall was completed, 500 blocks behind the seawall were raised to even the grade. The task took eight years to complete. 

Number 10, Historic Ashton Villa's fence is mostly underground.

Half of Ashton Villa’s historic iron fence is underground. Set into concrete when installed in 1859, the Brown family allowed half of it to be buried during the grade-raising. The gates and newel posts were removed and then reinstalled once the grade was raised so that they could maintain function.