5 stars for sale: Inside the underground fake review trade

Recently, our team exposed sophisticated scam kits designed to steal sensitive data and trick consumers. But underground marketplaces are not just for malware and stolen passwords. They also offer services designed to manipulate your opinion of the products and services you buy every day. In our...

Applebee’s customer data exposed by password left in app

Applebee’s has fixed a security flaw that exposed customers’ personal information after a researcher discovered a database password embedded in the restaurant chain’s Android app. The researcher, Robert Wiggins, found the password with help from AI. It gave him access to an internal Applebee’s...

A week in security (October 26 – November 1)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Fake PDF and search tools hijacked searches for 13.4 million Chrome users Photo ID, bank checks, face scan? The UK’s age-check options Binance hit by largest-ever crypto theft, with $6.3 billion stolen Hackers steal and publish data on 41,000 Homeland Security...

Fake PDF and search tools hijacked searches for 13.4 million Chrome users

Ads promoted browser extensions as tools to find manuals, convert PDFs, or make searches safer. But many of these extensions sent users’ search queries through servers controlled by their operators. Socket researcher John Tuckner identified 319 extensions with an estimated 13.4 million installs...

Photo ID, bank checks, face scan? The UK’s age-check options

As preparation for the UK’s planned social media ban, Ofcom has set out four ways social media platforms could check whether users are aged 16 or over. The government and Parliament will decide how the ban works in practice. Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services in the UK. The BB...

Binance hit by largest-ever crypto theft, with $6.3 billion stolen

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Hackers steal and publish data on 41,000 Homeland Security workers

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Malicious Firefox extensions impersonate popular crypto wallets

Socket’s threat researchers found three malicious Firefox extensions that impersonated the Phantom, Jupiter, and Bitget crypto wallets. Once installed, the malicious extensions stole recovery phrases and private keys, which would provide the attacker with full control of a wallet. A crypto wallet...

Have an older iPhone or iPad? Apple has a security update for you

Apple’s latest updates include a fix for a CoreGraphics bug that may have been exploited in targeted attacks. The fix is now available for older iPhones and iPads. Apple released security updates on October 26. Apple first fixed the flaw in iOS 26.7.1. Its latest updates also bring the fix to old...

Banks are blocking AI agents from customer accounts

This week, Axios reported that major US banks were detecting third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts. In many cases, customers have given the agents their usernames and passwords so they could act on their behalf. This kind of access can violate a bank’s rules. Bianco Research...

Chrome and Firefox updates fix serious security flaws. Install now

On October 27, Google issued a new Stable channel update for Chrome. Most users are on Chrome’s Stable channel. The desktop update brings Chrome to versions 156.0.8078.73/.74 for Windows and Mac and 156.0.8078.73 for Linux. The update includes 52 security fixes, including four rated Critical. On...

Five election scams to watch out for

Elections give scammers plenty to work with: urgent deadlines, familiar faces, passionate supporters, and messages asking people to take action. Some want you to “fix” your voter registration. Others want a donation, an answer to a survey, or payment for merchandise supposedly endorsed by your...

Artificial Intimacy: Love and lies in the age of AI

AI is becoming a third wheel in relationships, increasingly playing a role in the most intimate parts of our lives. It shows up in the flirty first text, the polished dating profile, the therapized language we use with a partner after a fight, the strength we gather after heartbreak, and everywhe...

The web’s having a rough week. Here’s how to browse safely

You recognize the website. You’ve visited it before. You may even have it bookmarked. Then it asks you to do something unusual: install an update, allow notifications, or run a command to prove you’re human. Stop and check first. A website you trust can still display instructions you shouldn’t...

Samsung TVs without mics may listen through soundbars, researcher says

A reverse engineer claims that their Samsung smart TV has been collecting audio without their consent. The researcher, who calls themselves “log4j,” said in an X thread that their 2025 Samsung TV was delivering ads that seemed suspiciously relevant to them. Investigating, they claim to have found...

Popcorn Time’s forgotten updater left millions of devices exposed to hijacking

You may have forgotten about Popcorn Time. Unfortunately, its updater didn’t forget about your device. Security researchers have intervened to disable an abandoned update mechanism in Time4Popcorn, a version of the once-popular streaming app. If left running in the background, the updater could...

AI Halloween videos: Who’s getting your photos?

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Patient records exposed in Quest breach: What you need to know

Quest Diagnostics has confirmed that an unauthorized party accessed a system healthcare providers use to order laboratory tests and view results, affecting personal information and patient records. Quest is a major US laboratory testing company whose services help healthcare professionals diagnos...

A week in security (October 19 – October 25)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Resident Evil maker Capcom warns of phishing after 11.7 million records exposed Crime Stoppers chapter freezes tips after breach breaks anonymity promise Facebook’s misleading privacy claims land Meta a $25 billion penalty Scammers are finding new ways to target yo...

Resident Evil maker Capcom warns of phishing after 11.7 million records exposed

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Crime Stoppers chapter freezes tips after breach breaks anonymity promise

A breach exposed personal information in supposedly anonymous crime reports. Now one Crime Stoppers chapter has stopped accepting tips because it cannot guarantee anonymity. Toronto Crime Stoppers, which works with the community, police, and media to help solve crimes, has paused phone, website,...

Facebook’s misleading privacy claims land Meta a $25 billion penalty

Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal may feel like very old news. But the consequences are still arriving, and the latest comes with a $25 billion price tag. Reuters reports that a New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in civil penalties after a jury found that Facebook misled...

Scammers are finding new ways to target your phone. Here are 5 ways to protect yourself

The warnings are everywhere these days. Don’t click this. Don’t open that. Don’t scan this. Don’t download that. These messages of caution, however well-intended, are so ubiquitous and constant that it should come as no surprise that some people have started to tune them out. How many people? Abo...

Woman faces years in prison over a Cash App account she says she never opened

A Cash App account opened in her name has left Amanda Smith facing criminal charges and potentially up to six years in prison. 404 Media reports that Smith says someone used her Social Security number SSN and date of birth to create an account that received money from a Facebook Marketplace scam...

Delivery bots accused of illegally scanning customers

Two Chicago customers say robots delivering their groceries and takeout scanned their faces and hands without consent, stored the data alongside their names and addresses, and used the recordings to train AI. Their separate lawsuits accuse delivery robot operators Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics...

WhatsApp’s chatbot was given hidden instructions to not mention privacy regulators

WhatsApp instructed its AI support chatbot not to recommend contacting privacy regulators when users couldn’t delete their accounts, researchers found. Privacy software company Redact discovered the hidden text on October 8. Its researchers then examined and saved copies of all 545 pages linked...

PHP2Shell: Why many websites had to go offline

If you’ve encountered websites in maintenance mode today, it may be a security precaution. Reports of attacks targeting two critical PHP vulnerabilities have prompted warnings to install emergency updates and consider temporarily taking affected services offline until they can be patched. The...

Fake Amazon Music x YouTube deal lures creators into a Google login trap

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Signal bug could let someone keep listening after you hang up

A recently disclosed flaw in Signal’s calling software could allow another participant to keep hearing you after you hang up. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-113380 CVSS score 9.3 out of 10, affects RingRTC versions earlier than 2.72.0. RingRTC is the open-source library behind Signal’s...

Google may add your number to all your accounts: How to stop it

As Android Central reports, users have received unexpected emails telling them their phone number has been verified for secondary Google accounts. Like me and many others, you may have one Google account for everyday use, another for work, and a third for things you would rather keep separate. Bu...

Meta glasses caught recording conversations without wake phrase

Meta says it has resolved an issue after some Ray-Ban Meta owners reported that their glasses recorded conversations without the “Hey Meta” wake phrase. Users reported finding recordings and transcripts of conversations they did not knowingly save. Recording without anyone realizing raises privac...

Man seeking love travels 2,000 km to meet an AI-generated woman

A 49-year-old bricklayer sold his belongings before traveling 2,000 km by bus from his home in Brazil to meet “Jéssica,” an online influencer he had fallen for. Yet despite having a social media account with more than 300,000 followers, she never existed. Edimar Rocha Martins lives in Imperatriz,...

AOMEI Backupper update servers hijacked to push malware: Check your PC

The Google Threat Intelligence Group GTIG reports that attackers compromised AOMEI Technology’s update and notification infrastructure in a campaign investigated between April and July. AOMEI Backupper is backup software that the company says is used by more than 100 million people worldwide. It...

A sextortion conspiracy killed his son (Lock and Code S07E21)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast… At just 17 years old, Jordan DeMay was murdered by strangers online. That’s how Jordan’s father, John DeMay, described what happened to his son four years ago. At home in Michigan, Jordan was readying for a weekend trip when he received a friend request on...

Millions of California students’ sensitive data stolen in breach

Personal information belonging to millions of current and former California public school students has been stolen from a system operated by Educational Testing Service ETS. ETS is a nonprofit organization that helps run the state’s standardized tests under contract with the California Department...

A week in security (October 12 – October 18)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Eiliko robot companion exposes private chats and can be hijacked “Spray and pray” job applications could make it harder for you to spot a scam OpenAI sued over children safety and data use Update Chrome: Google fixes 37 security flaws, including seven critical bugs...

Eiliko robot companion exposes private chats and can be hijacked

The Verge reports that Eiliko, a small AI robot companion made by Energize Lab, has serious security flaws that expose private conversations and let an attacker remotely change what the toy says. According to The Verge, researcher Sammy Azdoufal could access 13 million conversations and what...

“Spray and pray” job applications could make it harder for you to spot a scam

AI can help you send more job applications. But when you lose track of where you’ve applied, a fake recruiter’s message can start to look like the reply you’ve been waiting for. Job hunting can feel like shouting into the void. You send applications, rewrite cover letters, and wait for replies th...

OpenAI sued over children safety and data use

OpenAI is facing separate legal challenges over how ChatGPT interacts with children. The Guardian reports that eight US states accuse the company of misleading parents about the chatbot’s safety and exposing vulnerable users to dangerous conversations. Separately, CNET reports that a mother suing...

Update Chrome: Google fixes 37 security flaws, including seven critical bugs

On October 13 and 14, Google issued several Chrome updates. Most users are on Chrome’s Stable channel. The desktop update brings Chrome to versions 155.0.8059.79/.80 for Windows and Mac and 155.0.8059.79 for Linux. The update includes 37 security fixes, including seven rated Critical. On the same...

Is this link safe? Find out with Malwarebytes Scam Link Check

Maybe it’s a text saying your package couldn’t be delivered, with a link to reschedule. Or an email from your bank asking you to verify your account. Or perhaps it’s an invitation from someone you know to view a document. The message looks real enough, but something about the link feels fishy. Do...

Sextortion “help” firm took $60 million from victims, FTC alleges

The Federal Trade Commission FTC has filed a complaint accusing Digital Forensics Corporation of exploiting people already targeted by sextortionists. We have talked about sextortion and recovery scams in the past, but we never looked specifically at the combination. Apparently, there is a lot of...

Raven AI lets cops find your home from a photo taken inside

Photos you take with your phone and some digital cameras can contain hidden information, including where they were taken. You can strip that data out before sharing a photo with someone, which would help to protect your location. But the image itself may still give you away. A company called...

AI worms could spread across your smart devices, Anthropic warns

Your streaming box might not look like much of a computer. But connect enough inexpensive devices together, and they can run an AI model. Researchers at Anthropic demonstrated this by running a Google Gemma model across 15 off-brand Android TV boxes. They warn that small models could soon spread...

Update Windows: Record Patch Tuesday fixes flaw already under attack

Microsoft’s October Patch Tuesday release addresses a record-breaking 1,413 vulnerabilities, including an actively exploited Windows Shell zero-day and two other publicly disclosed flaws. Just when you thought a previous record would stand for a while, Microsoft comes out again with the largest...

Fake Calendly “Meta Careers” pages steal Facebook and Google logins

We found a wave of websites posing as Calendly booking pages for job interviews at Meta. Visitors pick a slot for a 30-minute phone call with a recruiter, fill in their details, and pass what looks like a CAPTCHA. Then the page asks them to log in to Facebook. The interview is fake. The pages are...

Police receive fake murder tip from Anthropic’s Claude AI

Police tip hotlines already have their fair share of crank callers. Apparently they now have to contend with crank AI agents as well. AI agents have already been caught hacking software companies, breaching an Australian government portal, and trying to hack a Canadian government website. Now...

Grindr users’ sensitive data shared through ad auctions without valid consent

Norway’s privacy regulator Datatilsynet has fined advertising technology company Xandr 92 million Norwegian kroner, approximately $9.6 million, for unlawfully processing and sharing sensitive information about Grindr users. While the decision concerns users in Norway, the data-sharing practices...

Hackers heat up supermarket fridges, spoiling food across France

A cyberattack has forced hundreds of supermarkets across France to throw away refrigerated and frozen food after attackers interfered with the systems that keep it cold. The attack caused significant financial losses and food waste. Some installations reportedly reached temperatures of around 50°...

Scammers know your name, and they’re counting on you to reply

Scammers are finding different ways to use personal details exposed in data breaches to lure people into conversations. Last week, we showed how a Facebook Marketplace listing used the recipient’s name to make a text asking “Is this still available?” more convincing. The one we got this week was ...