Candiru, an Israeli maker of spyware sold to governments, infected devices at the news network Al Jazeera through ordinary online ads, in attacks that needed no click or other action from the user, researchers at the Citizen Lab said Thursday. The hidden attack code ran the moment an ad loaded on the screen, and in some cases the ad loaded out of sight, in the background. The Citizen
Spyware vendors use online ad infrastructure to profile targets and deliver exploits without requiring users to click anything. The investigation links Discover-Tech to Candiru, an Israeli spyware vendor that the US government placed on its Entity List in 2021. Candiru has since used the name Integrity Labs. Citizen Lab also identified links involving other surveillance […]
A Windows trojan advertised on hacking forums for as little as $150 a month promises buyers access to a victim’s webcam, microphone, keystrokes and saved passwords, and comes with a set of features made to frighten the person on the other side of the screen. The malware, called KGB RAT, was analyzed by Group-IB malware analysts Alpomish Asadov and Razvan Raducu, who found that it is built on NjRAT, a well-known remot…
Fake CAPTCHA checks are being used to do more than hide phishing pages. Attackers are turning the familiar “prove you’re human” step into a gateway for malware downloads, malicious browser notifications, and commands that victims are tricked into running themselves, according to Barracuda. The company found CAPTCHA abuse in 43% of the phishing-kit attacks it examined during 2025. These checks help attackers gain user…
Infostealer intelligence has become one of the important tool in cybersecurity as malware has become one of the most efficient tools in a cybercriminal's kit. A single infected laptop can leak saved passwords, browser cookies, autofill data, and enough machine details for an attacker to impersonate the user outright. Stolen session cookies are especially damaging because they let intruders skip multi-factor authentic…
Not sure if a link is safe? Malwarebytes Scam Link Check scans suspicious links for signs of phishing, scams, malware, and other online threats before you click.
A critical vulnerability affecting Cisco’s Secure Email Gateway product is allowing attackers towrite arbitrary files on the underlying operating system. In an advisory issued on Wednesday, the company urged customers to apply available fixes after confirming that the flaw is being exploited in the wild. The flaw affects the product’s Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) feature and stems from improper handling of email…
A text message about an unpaid traffic challan could cost Android users in India far more than a fine. GhostBat RAT, an Android malware strain first identified by cybersecurity firm Cyble in October 2025, has evolved to capture PINs from 60 banking, UPI apps, wallet and fintech applications, according to new research published by Cyble. The firm's investigation into fake mParivahan and eChallan apps also exposed a wi…
Attackers are exploiting a newly disclosed flaw in Palo Alto Networks’ PAN-OS firewall software to run code with root privileges, and US federal agencies have been ordered to fix it and check for compromise by October 17. Palo Alto Networks disclosed the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-0322, in a security advisory published October 14. The flaw “enables an authenticated attacker with network access to execute arbi…
Attackers are impersonating popular AI products to distribute malware, steal browser sessions, and compromise business accounts. ANY.RUN linked 1,258 public sandbox analyses to fake AI campaigns between April and October of 2026. The campaigns also increase operational pressure on MSSPs serving US businesses, which accounted for 16% of country-attributed targets. Similar attacks
Ransomware attackers are expanding their tactics beyond encrypting corporate systems and threatening to leak stolen data. They are increasingly using AI in attacks, exploiting organizations’ own AI systems and even using physical intimidation by threatening employees and their families to pressure companies into paying ransoms. The Semperis’ 2026 Ransomware Risk Report found that 84% of surveyed ransomware victims ex…
On 14 October 2026, Cisco published a security advisory addressing a critical vulnerability affecting the Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) feature of Cisco Secure Email Gateway. This vulnerability could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to write arbitrary files and execute commands with root privileges on the underlying operating system. The Cisco PSIRT is aware of active exploitation of this vulnerability.…
Delivered via phishing, the malware provides reconnaissance, remote execution, and data exfiltration capabilities. The post CikaBika Bot RAT Uses Discord for C&C appeared first on SecurityWeek.
The Hirudo malware combines elements of a traditional banking trojan and a full-featured RAT. The post Novel Android RAT ‘Hirudo’ Replaces Banking Apps With Trojanized Copies appeared first on SecurityWeek.
Researchers at The Citizen Lab have for the first time released technical evidence of sophisticated mercenary spyware being distributed via online advertising.
Researchers say the attacks have serious implications for the online advertising world, and regulators. The post AdFection: How mercenary spyware invades victims’ devices through targeted advertising appeared first on CyberScoop.
Executive Summary Cyble has continued tracking GhostBat RAT activity targeting Android users in India since its initial identification in October 2025. Recent investigations into malicious mParivahan and eChallan-themed applications revealed a broader operator-controlled ecosystem that we track as GhostX. Analysis of the exposed GhostX backend identified administrative and user-management structures, device-control r…
Android trojan Hirudo replaces genuine banking apps with modified versions to steal credentials and bypass security checks, enabling financial fraud. ThreatFabric researchers detailed a new Android banking trojan called Hirudo that takes a genuinely different approach to defeating banking security. Instead of throwing a fake login screen over the real app, it uninstalls the real […]
Microsoft says it has dismantled a criminal marketplace responsible for 1 billion malicious messages. Working with international authorities and several tech and cybersecurity companies in a nearly year-long investigation, Redmond identified and took down Yam Store, a coordinated underground network dealing in commercial phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS). The network allowed cybercriminals to readily purchase, and very q…
A ransomware negotiator attended a cybersecurity conference, only to be arrested by the FBI in connection with its investigation into the ShinyHunters gang. Meanwhile, hackers get the keys to ASOS's app and the chance to message every single customer. What did they say? And how did the company respond? We have thoughts. All this and more is discussed in episode 488 of the "Smashing Security" podcast with cybersecurit…
We investigated an intrusion where attackers exploited CVE-2024-47575 to target 500+ firewalls and deploy PEERSTITCH, a memory-resident ARM64 malware. The post Unit 42 Uncovers PEERSTITCH, a Stealthy FortiGate Implant appeared first on Unit 42.
Key findings A disruption action targeting prominent players across the Chinese-speaking phishing and fraud ecosystem struck a blow to the most high-volume threats in Proofpoint data. Proofpoint supported Microsoft and other private and public partners in the civil lawsuit and takedown action. The highest-volume direct email threats in Proofpoint campaign data come from three phishing kits our researchers named CoGUI…
Cisco heeft een kwetsbaarheid verholpen in Cisco Secure Email Gateway, specifiek in de Advanced Malware Protection feature. De kwetsbaarheid bevindt zich in de wijze waarop de Advanced Malware Protection feature e-mailbijlagen verwerkt wanneer de file reputation service is ingeschakeld. Een niet-geauthenticeerde externe aanvaller kan hierdoor willekeurige bestanden schrijven naar het onderliggende besturingssysteem.…
Attackers are exploiting a critical flaw in Cisco Secure Email Gateway that lets a sender with no login write files to the appliance's operating system, Cisco said in an advisory on Wednesday. The attacker sends an email with a crafted attachment through the gateway and, if it succeeds, could then run commands as root. The appliance filters an organization's email for spam, malware,
Attackers exploited a flaw in an optional Nextcloud app, Collabora Online - Built-in CODE Server, to plant web shells on Nextcloud servers. Three administrators reported the issue on GitHub, with the first logged attack on September 10. A web shell is a small file that executes any command an attacker sends via a web request, with the rights of the web server account. The flaw
