How AI Protects (and Attacks) Your Inbox

Criminals may use artificial intelligence to scam you. Companies, like Google, are looking for ways AI and machine learning can help prevent phishing...

Discord Admins Hacked by Malicious Bookmarks

A number of Discord communities focused on cryptocurrency have been hacked this past month after their administrators were tricked into running malicious Javascript code disguised as a Web browser bookmark. This attack involves malicious Javascript that is added to ones browser by dragging a...

Interview With a Crypto Scam Investment Spammer

Social networks are constantly battling inauthentic bot accounts that send direct messages to users promoting scam cryptocurrency investment platforms. What follows is an interview with a Russian hacker responsible for a series of aggressive crypto spam campaigns that recently prompted several...

Searching for AI Tools? Watch Out for Rogue Sites Distributing RedLine Malware

Malicious Google Search ads for generative AI services like OpenAI ChatGPT and Midjourney are being used to direct users to sketchy websites as part of a BATLOADER campaign designed to deliver RedLine Stealer malware. "Both AI services are extremely popular but lack first-party standalone apps...

A week in security (May 8-14)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: The rise of "Franken-ransomware," with Allan Liska: Lock and Code S04E11 Ransomware review: May 2023 Brightline breach hits at least 964,000 people, US records show Ransomware attack on MSI led to compromised Intel Boot Guard private keys Fake system update drops...

Sponsored Twitter post uses fake BBC News site to boost slippery oil trading app

A sponsored post on Twitter promises to offer the benefits of obtaining citizenship, but really just wants to lure you into some form of Forex trading AI scheme. This tangled web also includes faked BBC web pages and suspicious-looking website reviews to round the whole thing off. Shall we take a...

Mastermind Behind Twitter 2020 Hack Pleads Guilty and Faces up to 70 Years in Prison

A U.K. national has pleaded guilty in the U.S. in connection with the July 2020 Twitter attack affecting numerous high-profile accounts and defrauding other users of the platform. Joseph James O'Connor, who also went by the online alias PlugwalkJoe, admitted to "his role in cyberstalking and...

Mastermind Behind Twitter 2020 Hack Pleads Guilty and Faces up to 70 Years in Prison

A U.K. national has pleaded guilty in the U.S. in connection with the July 2020 Twitter attack affecting numerous high-profile accounts and defrauding other users of the platform. Joseph James O'Connor, who also went by the online alias PlugwalkJoe , admitted to "his role in cyberstalking and...

Fake Flipper Zero sellers are after your money

Thanks to Malwarebytes' Stefan Dasic who provided the research and screenshots for this article. Flipper Zero, a "multi-tool device for hackers", is frequently out of stock due to its popularity in hardware circles. Flipper Zero combines research and penetration hardware tools into a single unit...

Instagram scam promises money in exchange for your image

Were seeing a number of complaints on Reddit and elsewhere regarding a scam which flares up every so often. Its called the "Muse scam", and targets users of Instagram. Let's hear from one of the Reddit posters impacted: An artist approached me on Instagram asking if they could use one of my photo...

Avoid this "lost injured dog" Facebook hoax

Facebook users are advised to be wary of posts involving injured dogs receiving treatment at a vet surgery, or pets sitting next to people post-operation adorned with bandages and plaster casts. The dog-themed missives all follow a similar format, with the primary change between them being the...

Update Chrome now! Google patches actively exploited flaw

In a recent security advisory, Google says it patched a high-severity zero-day security flaw in its Chrome browser--the first in 2023--currently being exploited in the wild by threat actors. The company urges all its Windows, Mac, and Linux users to update to version 112.0.5615.121 immediately, a...

Woman tracks down and turns table on Airbnb scammer

The internet is full of Airbnb scams and accounts told by victims. But there is a twist in this latest story-gone-viral that is usually lacking in most narratives: The victim evens the score. Airbnb host and scammer "Mr. Tyler" met his match when his would-be guest, TikTok user Olivia @livvoogus,...

Is AI being used for virtual kidnapping scams?

You may have seen a worrying report of Artificial Intelligence AI being used in a virtual kidnapping scam. The AI was supposedly used to imitate the voice of an Arizona resident's daughter, who claimed to have been kidnapped. The daughter was safe and well elsewhere on a school trip. Unfortunatel...

London Councils & pirate books. Google dorking for subdomain takeovers

TL;DR Google dorks found me an exploited DigitalOcean subdomain takeover on London Councils’ .gov.uk domain It used a meta refresh to redirect to a site hosting unprovenanced PDFs London Councils had a security.txt file which made disclosure a doddle Their security team were awesome and fixed it...

LLMs and Phishing

Heres an experiment being run by undergraduate computer science students everywhere: Ask ChatGPT to generate phishing emails, and test whether these are better at persuading victims to respond or click on the link than the usual spam. Its an interesting experiment, and the results are likely to...

Over 1 Million WordPress Sites Infected by Balada Injector Malware Campaign

Over one million WordPress websites are estimated to have been infected by an ongoing campaign to deploy malware called Balada Injector since 2017. The massive campaign, per GoDaddy's Sucuri, "leverages all known and recently discovered theme and plugin vulnerabilities" to breach WordPress sites...

Over 1 Million WordPress Sites Infected by Balada Injector Malware Campaign

Over one million WordPress websites are estimated to have been infected by an ongoing campaign to deploy malware called Balada Injector since 2017. The massive campaign, per GoDaddy's Sucuri, "leverages all known and recently discovered theme and plugin vulnerabilities" to breach WordPress sites...

Beware of new YouTube phishing scam using authentic email address

By Deeba Ahmed Watch out for a new YouTube phishing scam and ignore any email from YouTube that claims to provide details about "Changes in YouTube rules and policies | Check the Description." This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Beware of new YouTube phishing scam using...

Fake ransomware demands payment without actually encrypting files

Fake it till you make it ransomware groups are trying to get rich off the backs of genuine ransomware authors. Why are they "fake it till you make it"? Because they dont actually create ransomware or compromise networks in any way. Theyre simply lying through their teeth and hoping that recipient...