Fake GTA 6 Extended Look and demo sites deliver an infostealer

GTA 6 footage really has leaked online, and Rockstar has an official Extended Look coming to Netflix on August 27. But cybercriminals are exploiting the hype with fake Rockstar sites that lead visitors to password-stealing malware. We identified a network of sites appearing in searches for a GTA ...

Fake Microsoft security scans trick victims into uninstalling their antivirus

A wave of websites is offering to check whether your antivirus is working. They call themselves SysScan , carry Microsoft branding, and all reach the same conclusion: Your computer has serious problems, and the cause is the antivirus software you installed. Windows, they claim, no longer supports...

What happens to your data when you die? (Lock and Code S07E17)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … You will die. Your data will not. The afterlife of our information is a recent phenomenon, and some of the companies with the most to sort through are still just figuring it out. As far back as 2007, Facebook was forced to reckon with mass grief when users...

AliExpress caught using silent audio to fingerprint visitors’ browsers

AliExpress, the online marketplace owned by Alibaba Group, has come under scrutiny after researchers and browser maker Brave reported finding silent Web Audio processing on the site that could help fingerprint visitors’ devices. The audio processing did not record people through their microphones...

ToxicPanda 2.0 can take over your Android phone and banking apps

Researchers have uncovered ToxicPanda 2.0, an Android banking Trojan and remote-access tool designed for account takeover and “on-device fraud.” Not only does ToxicPanda 2.0 have a much larger target list of banks and e-wallets, it has also expanded its capabilities by combining banking overlays,...

Tracking PavinLoader across ClickFix and fake download campaigns

In our previous analysis of the malicious RenPy campaigns, we identified a multi-stage loader deployed as part of the infection chain. Further threat hunting has since shown that the same loader, which we track as PavinLoader , is being used across several different campaigns, including ClickFix...

A week in security (August 17 – August 23)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Zombie Card: An expired Visa credit card can be used for purchases Medical records, SSNs, and bank details exposed in CareCloud data breach ChatGPT for Teens tackles risky chats and homework shortcuts Twitch wants your content for Amazon AI training. Here’s how to...

Zombie Card: An expired Visa credit card can be used for purchases

Did you know there is still a good reason to physically destroy your expired credit card? Scientific research found that the expiration date used by payment terminals on some contactless cards was not effectively protected against tampering. University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers Raja...

Medical records, SSNs, and bank details exposed in CareCloud data breach

Healthcare technology giant CareCloud has confirmed that a data breach earlier this year impacted more than 3.75 million people, making it one of the largest healthcare data incidents disclosed this year. The New Jersey-based company, which provides electronic health record EHR and practice...

ChatGPT for Teens tackles risky chats and homework shortcuts

OpenAI has addressed complaints around teens' use of its ChatGPT system by introducing ChatGPT for Teens, a version of the AI assistant designed specifically for users aged 13 to 17. But will it prevent determined kids from bucking the system? It brings together several protections OpenAI has...

Twitch wants your content for Amazon AI training. Here’s how to opt out

The Dutch Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens AP has advised Twitch users to opt out of sharing data with Amazon AI. Twitch launched as a live-video platform and is currently owned by Amazon. Its core product is live broadcasting with a built-in chat culture: streamers broadcast gameplay, commentary,...

Your Mac already has a built-in firewall. Here’s how to get more from it

Your Mac comes with a built-in firewall, but it’s probably not something you’ve given much thought to. A firewall helps control incoming connections—requests from apps and other devices that want to connect to your Mac—giving you an extra layer of protection whenever you’re online. For most peopl...

9 million images of people’s faces exposed by reverse lookup service

Researcher Jeremiah Fowler found a cloud database containing more than 9 million image files accessible without authentication, WIRED reports. The leaky bucket, containing some 450 GB of images, was traced back to a US-registered company called ClarityCheck. In their own words, ClarityCheck says:...

41 deceptive download sites show a real link, then send you somewhere else

We identified a network of 41 websites impersonating popular games and Windows software, all designed to push visitors towards the same Download Studio installer. The sites advertise everything from Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Fallout, Roblox, PUBG, and The Witcher to VLC, 7-Zip, Paint.NET, VMware...

Sideloading on Android: What it is, why it’s risky, and how to do it more safely

A Google spokesperson announced on Reddit that it has started rolling out the first version of its Advanced Flow, designed to make installing apps from unverified developers safer. Let us explain what sideloading is, why Google Play is not 100% safe, what to look for when you’re sideloading so yo...

Scammers are using fake crypto AML checkers to drain your wallet

Scammers are creating fake crypto wallet-checking sites that promise to tell you whether a wallet is linked to suspicious activity. Instead, they try to trick you into giving them access to your crypto. What real AML checking looks like AML stands for anti-money laundering. These are rules that...

Update Chrome now: Two critical vulnerabilities fixed

Chrome is rolling out an update for its desktop versions. The update includes 15 security fixes, two of which address critical buffer overflow vulnerabilities. The stable channel has been updated to 151.0.7922.169/.170 for Windows and Mac, and 151.0.7922.169 for Linux. How to update Chrome If you...

Your polite reply to that text is worth $2 on the dark web

Most wrong-number texts are harmless. Some are the first step in a carefully planned scam. By replying, you may be confirming that your number is active and that you're willing to engage with strangers, making you a more valuable target for future fraud. Here's why a polite response can be worth...

Apple fixes another image-processing flaw that could allow code execution

Apple has released security updates for more than two dozen security vulnerabilities across iPhone, iPad, and macOS Tahoe,including yet another image parsing vulnerability that could compromise your device. This update delivers security fixes that were first made available in the iOS 27 and iPadO...

Be careful what you put in “anyone with the link” Google Docs

The next time you type something sensitive into a Google Doc—or any other online tool with a sharing feature—be careful about the permissions you grant. Speaking with The Register, the founder of QR generation service Pageloot said that he learned that the hard way. Siim Kostabi recalled how a...

Heights Finance data breach: What customers need to know

Heights Finance Holdings' online data breach notification says an unauthorized party accessed a third-party cloud platform containing customer data, potentially exposing highly sensitive personal, banking, and identity information. Heights Finance is a consumer lender that offers personal...

ShieldBreak bypasses Microsoft’s patch for earlier Defender flaw

Microsoft Defender’s latest patch bypass shows a familiar problem. A newly disclosed Microsoft Defender flaw called ShieldBreak shows that fixing one attack path doesn't always close every route to the same result. Microsoft has assigned ShieldBreak the identifier CVE-2026-69414 and confirmed it ...

Fake TikTok rewards promise cash you’ll never get

TikTok-branded "rewards" pages are promising users cash for checking in every day, completing small tasks, and earning points. Those points supposedly convert into real money, and the balances look enormous. A countdown timer usually warns that your balance is about to expire. But when you try to...

Update your Mac: Screen Sharing vulnerability exploited in the wild

The Dutch National Cyber Security Centre NCSC issued a warning after being notified of several incidents where a vulnerability in Apple’s Screen Sharing feature was exploited to install Monero cryptominers. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-65400, was patched by Apple on August 6. It is an...

Why Facebook’s war on ad blockers could help scammers

Reports that uBlock Origin is stepping back from the never-ending effort to filter Facebook ads are a reminder that ad blocking is no longer only an argument about inconvenience, publishers, and lost advertising revenue. It is also an issue of security. For years, ad blockers have occupied an...

A week in security (August 10 – August 16)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Apple now uses iPhone alerts for targets of mercenary spyware WhatsApp is testing a new warning for scam messages New Android malware lets criminals use your bank card in real time Parents take on Meta, TikTok, Google, and Snap in 3,000 youth safety lawsuits...

Apple now uses iPhone alerts for targets of mercenary spyware

Apple has expanded its threat-notification system for targets of mercenary spyware. Apple now shows a warning directly on an iPhone’s Lock Screen and in Settings when it believes the device owner has been targeted by mercenary spyware. The new on-device alert is meant to make a high-risk warning...

WhatsApp is testing a new warning for scam messages

Meta announced it’s rolling out a new feature for WhatsApp users in the fight against scammers. Scam Alert is an optional beta feature that uses an on-device machine-learning model to flag likely scam messages from people who are not in a user’s contacts. The Scam Alert feature arrives as scammer...

New Android malware lets criminals use your bank card in real time

Researchers at Group-IB have discovered a new NFC relay malware family, purpose-built to capture live card data via NFC and forward it in real time to attackers. They dubbed it "WindRelay." NFC Near Field Communication is wireless technology that allows devices such as smartphones, payment cards,...

Parents take on Meta, TikTok, Google, and Snap in 3,000 youth safety lawsuits

A group of big tech firms is fighting to stop roughly 3,000 youth safety lawsuits from moving forward, and they just lost a critical procedural battle in court. The lawsuits, brought by attorneys general and families, allege that Meta, Google, ByteDance's TikTok, and Snap knew their products were...

“Zoomsday” flaws could let one Zoom participant attack another

Researchers have found three vulnerabilities in the popular Zoom meeting platform that could let one meeting participant attack another through malicious collaboration data. The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2026-53413, CVE-2026-53414, and CVE-2026-53415, affect the code Zoom uses to process...

Patch Tuesday: Update now to fix 421 flaws, including three zero-days

Microsoft’s August 2026 Patch Tuesday addresses 421 Microsoft vulnerabilities, including 62 rated Critical. One Windows vulnerability has been exploited in the wild by the Lazarus group to gain SYSTEM privileges. The August update is smaller than July’s record-breaking release, but it's still amo...

Fake CCleaner installs GhostDesk Chrome spyware

A fake version of the popular PC cleaning tool CCleaner is being used to infect Windows users with a malicious Chrome extension called GhostDesk, which acts as spyware inside the browser. With more than 2 billion downloads worldwide, CCleaner is one of the best-known Windows utilities, making it ...

Valve warns Steam hardware buyers: Expect fake delivery scams

Most of us are wise to phishing emails that don't contain much personal information. Generic "your account is suspended" messages usually get binned on sight. But what about the phishing emails that use your real name and address, and reference the specific product you bought last month? Even for...

Social media platforms crack down on drone factory recruiting game

A video game about drone warfare may look like an unusual cybersecurity story. But cybersecurity isn't only about malware or stolen passwords. Sometimes it's about understanding how online platforms are used to influence decisions, build trust, and persuade people to share personal information or...

Sexual predators targeting online accounts for intimate images, FBI warns

The FBI has issued a Public Service Announcement PSA warning that criminals are breaking into social media and personal accounts to steal and distribute intimate images and videos without consent. The FBI refers to this type of content as non-consensual intimate images NCII. The stolen material m...

Love/hate relationship: The AI affair. Young people love AI, but it’s breaking their trust

Young people use AI for everything. From schoolwork to interview prep, relationship advice to shopping decisions, the technology has become part of how young people live. For the most digitally fluent generation ever, AI is a competitive edge, a creative partner, and an always-on assistant. But t...

Watch out for fake TikTok Shops trying to steal your money

TikTok Shop is a real, functioning e-commerce feature built into the TikTok app, allowing users to buy goods without ever leaving TikTok. As it's grown in popularity, scammers have begun cloning its appearance.Storefronts that reproduce its look, its trust badges, and its category layout closely...

Fake popular sites offer a free app, instead take over PCs

A website built to look almost exactly like CNN’s homepage is telling visitors to download "the new CNN app." But it's not CNN’s app, and has nothing to do with the news company. The campaign doesn’t stop at CNN. It also uses fake Stremio and Avast installers hosted on similarly convincing...

How to fake a data trail (and maybe lower prices) (Lock and Code S07E16)

It may sound entirely bizarre but the prices you once paid for hotels, educational classes, or staplers could have all been higher because you used a Mac computer, lived in a certain zip code, or lacked an Office Depot in your neighborhood. No, really. In 2012, The Wall Street Journal reported th...

New turnkey kit makes it easy for anyone to become a scammer

In 2026, online scams have unfortunately become part of the new normal. They can appear almost anywhere, from social media and messaging apps to search results, websites, and online communities, and they can target anyone. Sometimes, all it takes is a moment of curiosity and a convincing offer...

Edge is dropping older extensions, affecting popular privacy tools

Microsoft is beginning the retirement of Manifest V2 MV2 extensions in Edge this month, with consumer completion targeted for the end of 2026 and managed-enterprise deprecation in early 2027. Microsoft says that change is justified because 95% of the most-used MV2 extensions in the Edge Add-ons...

A week in security (August 3 – August 9)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: AI chat bots are sliding into League of Legends friend requests Meta ordered to pay $942 million over harm to children Apple WebKit vulnerabilities reveal your IP address, despite Private Relay Scammers target OnlyFans users with deepfakes Amazon and Apple...

AI chat bots are sliding into League of Legends friend requests

Lina K., a co-worker, recently shared a firsthand account of how bots are adding League of Legends players via the Riot client friends list immediately after a match ends, striking up a flirty conversation, and eventually pushing an OnlyFans link. The pattern lines up with a wave of complaints th...

Meta ordered to pay $942 million over harm to children

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay a total of $942 million after finding that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users and that the company misled consumers about the safety of its platforms. Reportedly, the decision combines a $375 million civil-penalty verdict from March with a newly...

Meta ordered to pay $942 million over harm to children

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay a total of $942 million after finding that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users and that the company misled consumers about the safety of its platforms. Reportedly, the decision combines a $375 million civil-penalty verdict from March with a newly...

Apple WebKit vulnerabilities reveal your IP address, despite Private Relay

Three WebKit mechanisms have been discovered to bypass Apple's iCloud Private Relay. In fact, the mechanisms can bypass any browser‑level proxy configuration, including Psylo’s proxy, Tor-on-iOS proxy setups, and so on. Private Relay is a VPN-like system for Safari on iOS which is meant to preven...

Scammers target OnlyFans users with deepfakes

OnlyFans creators are used to posting adult videos of themselves online, but what happens if someone takes control of their images and uses them for fraud? This week, USA Today revealed how criminals are impersonating OnlyFans creators using AI tools. They use deepfake content to lure the real...

Amazon and Apple impersonated in “$149.99 unauthorized charge” scam

If you’ve spent any time browsing lately, you may have run into a full-screen popup warning you that your Apple ID or Amazon account was just used for a mysterious $149.99 purchase. It looks urgent. It looks official. And if you look at two examples side by side, it becomes obvious that it’s...

Anthropic’s Mythos AI used social engineering to target real people

Anthropic’s Mythos AI agent, tested by the UK AI Safety Institute AISI, has reportedly attempted a real‑world social‑engineering style hack against GitHub maintainers by creating fake human profiles, pressuring them to accept malicious code, and then editing logs to hide its tracks when challenge...