FBI warns of ransomware attacks on law firms and potential drone hack threats ahead of World Cup

The FBI has issued an alert about the Silent Ransom Group, a previously unknown cyber‑criminal organization that impersonates IT support staff to infiltrate law‑firm networks in the United States. Using social‑engineering tactics such as fake support calls and USB drops, the group steals sensitive data and demands ransom, with reported incidents causing losses of up to $1.4 million in Vancouver and €2.1 million in British Columbia. U.S. authorities estimate annual fraud damages from such schemes at €215‑€480 billion.

Separately, an Iran‑linked hacker collective identified as Handala claims to have compromised FBI FPV drones that are deployed around the 2026 FIFA World Cup venues in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The group said the drones capture facial‑recognition images and license‑plate data, warning that the footage could be used to target team buses. The FBI has rejected the authenticity of the videos Handala released, noting the clips were produced for a tornado‑damage monitoring demo in late 2024. Both incidents highlight heightened cyber‑security concerns for U.S. law‑enforcement and major international events.