Arch Linux users who mistyped yay or paru while installing the package helpers from the Arch User Repository (AUR) may have given a stranger root access to their machine. AUR is a popular community package source for Arch Linux and related distributions, hosting user-submitted build scripts for proprietary programs, beta builds and older software versions that the official repositories do not carry. Yay and paru, kno…
PEERSTITCH malware exploited FortiManager to expose 500+ firewalls, evade detection inside FortiOS memory, and maintain stealthy access. PEERSTITCH, a stealthy implant deployed during a prolonged intrusion, helped attackers maintain access to a telecom managed service provider after compromising its FortiManager appliance. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 documented the operation, which began in September 2024 and […]
Fresh research suggests recent panic over AI-generated malware may be overblown. Last month Anthropic detailed how Russia-linked cyberespionage group Midnight Blizzard used Claude to rebuild malware each time security tools flagged its backdoor as malign. “We observed GTG-20006 operate through customized AI-driven workflows that automated much of their operations from development, infrastructure acquisition, phishing…
Supermarket freezers that cooked their own stock overnight. Text messages about traffic fines that quietly steal payment PINs. North Korean IT workers paying Americans to keep remote jobs at U.S. companies. This weekly cybersecurity roundup brings together incidents that reached well beyond stolen data, causing spoiled food, store fires, disrupted grocery deliveries and drained bank accounts. Here are the stories tha…
A suspected advanced threat actor has been observed exploiting a security flaw in Fortinet FortiOS to deliver a previously unreported memory-resident ARM64 malware known as PEERSTITCH. The attack involves the exploitation of CVE-2025-61624 (CVSS score: 5.4), a path traversal flaw in the command line interpreter of FortiOS, FortiPAM, FortiProxy, and FortiSwitchManager that could allow a
That ad you just scrolled past on your phone but barely spared a look or click? It could be tracking your movements and collecting your data, without you having to do a thing. This “zero-click mercenary spyware,” dubbed “AdFection,” is increasingly exploiting a sprawling online advertising ecosystem ripe for abuse, according to researchers at The Citizen Lab. One top actor in the space, Discover-Tech, runs the Contro…
Our analysis an AI-powered espionage campaign targeting government Linux infrastructure with custom malware, web shells, and advanced credential theft. The post AI-Powered Espionage Campaign Targets Government Linux Infrastructure appeared first on Unit 42.
Powerful zero-click spyware is infected devices worldwide through targeted ads, new research shows — an alarming development in the spread of surveillance technology.
Someone built a tool to steal data, then decided it should scare the victim for fun. Yes, that’s an actual feature. And somehow, it fits right in with this week's security stories. The rest gets interesting in different ways. A small permission can lead to a big theft. A trusted login can hide the wrong person. Old bugs are finding new victims, familiar tools are being put to strange uses, and
Silent Lynx, a group likely based in Kazakhstan, targets Russian energy and government entities in espionage campaigns across Central Asia. Researchers from Cisco Talos and Recorded Future published a detailed paper on a threat actor they call Silent Lynx (aka UAT-6275, TAG-193), a Kazakhstan nexus group conducting espionage across Central Asia. The targets include the […]
سامانه‌های انتقال فایل در سازمان‌ها برای جابه‌جایی اطلاعات میان کاربران، سرورها و شبکه‌های مختلف استفاده می‌شوند. بااین‌حال، اگر خود این سامانه‌ها دچار آسیب‌پذیری امنیتی باشند، ممکن است مسیر دسترسی غیرمجاز به فایل‌ها یا زیرساخت سازمان را فراهم کنند؛ حتی زمانی که فایل‌ها از نظر وجود بدافزار بررسی می‌شوند.
Citizen Lab has uncovered targeted advertising campaigns that infected devices at Al Jazeera with Candiru spyware without requiring users to click anything. The researchers call the technique “AdFection” and describe their findings as the first public technical confirmation of mercenary spyware delivered through targeted ads. The investigation identifies Israeli advertising company Discover-Tech as the intermediary ……
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.…
